


Controlled and Calculated

by Prettyyoungtragedy



Series: Controlled and Calculated [1]
Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Be kind this fic is a mess but I lvoe it, Boys Making Stupid Decisions, Bucky Barnes falling in love because he's dumb, Bucky Barnes finds his feelings, Bucky making ALL the mistakes, Eventual Smut, F/M, Girls falling for boys with pretty faces, Lawyer Bucky Barnes, Lawyer Steve Rogers, Marvel Alternate Universe - Freeform, Marvel Universe, Peggy carter being a bad ass bitch, Steve Rogers is an ass, Suits AU, Theres a whole lot of drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 14:10:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15950975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prettyyoungtragedy/pseuds/Prettyyoungtragedy
Summary: Bucky Barnes, always controlled, always stoic, always calculated.  He’s an attorney and a damn good one at that. Until his new courthouse dance partner is the most sure footed, infuriating woman he has ever come across.





	1. Austere Attitude

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of a messy one! But it's all angst and drama and eventual smut which leads to feelings being discovered and more drama! 
> 
> If you want to read more of my shitty stories, you can always pop over to @PrettyYoungTragedy on Tumblr, I have more works there!
> 
> Enjoy !

The infernal clicking of her pen in her hand is driving him insane. He wants to reach over, grab the pen from her hand and throw it out the goddamn window.

_Click. Click. Click._

His gaze flits over to where she sat, opposite him, arm resting on the large glass rectangular table, leaning back in the leatherback conference room chair, an almost smug look on her face as she listened to one of the Partners of the firm talk. 

_Click. Click. Click._

Bucky takes a deep breath, trying to control his frustrations. He is trying to pay attention to what is being said but all he can focus on is that damned clicking. 

_Click. Click. Click._

Why won’t she stop clicking that fucking pen!, He thought frustratedly to himself. He looks back at his boss standing at the end of the conference table, Peggy Carter, a formidable force of nature. An absolute shark in the courtroom, of course, she was, with the leading Law Firm in New York City, why wouldn't she be. 

“Isn’t that right Bucky?” Peggy’s voice snaps him out of his thoughts, she’s looking directly at him. Her eyebrows raised, prompting him to speak. 

Shit, he wasn’t paying attention. Bucky clears his throat, and opens his mouth to speak but is suddenly cut off by the new girl. Who looks directly at him, a smirk on her face. 

“I don’t mind taking point with Bucky on this.” She said, her voice velvety smooth and sultry. “That is if he is okay with it.” She added, tossing her hair over her shoulder. That tight white blouse she’s wearing is intensely distracting all of a sudden. 

Then she begins that fucking clicking of her pen again and Bucky’s gaze met hers. He wants to throw himself out the window at this point. 

“I don’t need help on the case, sorry newbie and its James,” Bucky said, his voice assured and commanding correcting her. Only his friends were allowed to call him Bucky. Everyone at the table tensed when he responded. Bucky had been one of the senior partners at the law firm for a year now and no one stepped on his toes. He got his shit done and didn’t as anyone for help ever. 

Bucky never lost a case. 

Peggy cleared her throat, “Well seeing as she’s your new partner, I think it will be good for the two of you to work this case together.” Peggy stated, giving Bucky a look that meant don’t argue with her. He had known her all his life and knew better than to talk back when Peggy gave him that stare. 

He had multiple questions run through his mind at that very moment, His new partner? What the hell did that mean? Why didn’t Peggy inform him and why was he getting a partner, he had not. Not in the 8 years of working here. 

“Not a chance” Was all he responded, steeling his expression back to a scowl that everyone was used to seeing him with. 

“And why not?” She actually challenged him, openly in front of everyone. A senior partner at the firm was being challenged in a meeting by a newbie. Bucky raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head. 

“Because I don’t need your help. I have this one in the bag already.” Bucky retorted, a little arrogantly. 

This caused her to snort at his response. Bucky was highly amused by her attitude. Who the hell did she think she was.

“We will discuss it later.” Peggy sighed, cutting in before the argument got heated. Already knowing what a fight this was going to be, hence why she never told him about this little arrangement. 

The woman whose name he hadn’t bothered to learn yet, sat back in her chair. Smugly swinging in at as she looked at him. A smirk on her face. A pretty face, even though it annoyed him. 

Then there it was again, that fucking clicking of her pen. 

_Click. Click. Click._

That sound absolutely grated his nerves. So much so, that as Peggy continued with the rest of the briefing on the case, Bucky couldn’t drown out the sound that her pen was making. He had actually never been more infuriated by a pen before in his entire existence. 

And the second the briefing was over, Bucky pushed himself out of his chair, grabbed his briefcase and marched out of the conference room. Eager to get away from that woman and her annoying fucking pen. 

Everyone stared after him, and Peggy sighed. Bucky always was a difficult one, but he won cases. So she kept him happy. This new spanner in the works was definitely going to be tumultuous but she’d have to make it work. 

“Good luck in there.” Peggy said, turning to the girl who had been sassing Bucky and giving her a look and an assured nod. 

There was just a smirk of confidence in response. 

*********

“What an arrogant fucking bastard!” You muttered to yourself as you hit the button to the elevator. In your arms is the multiple case files Peggy Carter your new boss had handed to you before you left the conference room. 

It was day one at the new law firm, you had moved from up from Baltimore to the New York. On recommendation from your old boss to Peggy Carter’s firm. She had seen your work and was thoroughly impressed with your track records assuring you she had just the place for you in her firm. 

The way she spoke about James Buchanan Barnes, you were expecting a charming, friendly man. Not the grumpy, arrogant asshole that sat before you in that conference room. 

How were you going to work with a man who wouldn’t even acknowledge your presence in a room. And he never bothered to introduce himself when Peggy said you were his new partner. 

“Arrogant prick.” You muttered once more to yourself as you stepped into the elevator, moving to stand all the way at the back and lean on the mirrored wall of it. Closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. You needed a drink and it wasn’t even 11 AM yet. 

Just as the elevator doors were closing, a hand obstructed them from closing and a handsome blonde stepped in. You opened your eyes and looked him over. He wore a perfectly tailored suit and had a dashing smile on his face. He was at least 6ft3. 

“Hello.” He said in a deep voice, a wide smile on his handsome face. 

“Hi.” You replied, unable to keep from smiling back. 

“I haven’t seen you around before.” he said, “You new here?” 

You nodded, “My first day.” 

“Ahh well, welcome to Carter and Stark Attorneys,” He said, “I’m Thor.” He offered his hand out in a handshake. 

“Thor as is the mythical Norse god of thunder Thor?” You couldn't help but laugh as you shook his large hand

Thor winced and scratched the back of his neck, sort of blushing. “Yes, don’t ask, my parents were weird.” He chuckled. 

“I don’t judge.” You laughed, introducing yourself to him. 

“So, how do you like it here so far?” Thor asked, reaching his hands out and taking the many files from your hands. You let him, as the sudden gesture surprised you. 

“Well my first case and I think my partner already hates me.” You sighed, “He seems an ass though.” 

Thor chuckled, as the elevator dinged on the floor you were heading to. Both of you stepped out and you turned to him. “Who's your partner?” Thor asked.

“It would be that asshead.” You sighed as your gaze spotted Bucky Barnes walking towards the elevator, looking at a case file in his hands. You hadn’t noticed how immaculately he was dressed in a dark navy suit, a crisp white shirt and a striped tie. When he wasn’t sitting opposite you looking like an arrogant ass. Bucky’s features were soft and ridiculously handsome. 

Bucky looks up from the files in his hands as he reaches the elevator, his gaze sweeping over you for only a second before he turned to Thor. “What took you so long?” He snapped at Thor, 

The tall blonde just shook his head and rolled his eyes, “Geez Barnes, relax. I’m here now, let’s go.” 

Bucky shook his head in irritation and then began to walk away, Thor threw you a handsome smile “Nice meeting you” He said, handing you back your casefiles “Oh and good luck with…” He motioned a thumb towards Bucky whose back was turned towards the two of you. Then he followed Bucky into a nearby conference room.  
You sighed and looked around the office. Crisply decorated with, beige tones, glass desks, and green potted plants. It was gorgeous, you loved it but you still sighed. 

This was your life now, you might as well strap the fuck in and tackle it head-on. And oh boy were you in for a ride.


	2. Brilliant Backchatting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your first deposition at the firm begins, and you meet Steve Rogers, handsome sightly Steve Rogers. Needless to say, Bucky isn't too happy with you or Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters will all be posted consecutively. I hope you guys enjoy them!

Monday morning, cold, misty grey Monday morning. Bucky steps onto the elevator, coffee in hand. He is focused on his phone in his hand, scrolling through the dozens of emails he had received over the weekend.

He doesn’t see her step onto the elevator beside him.

“Good Morning.” A female voice greets him but he doesn’t look up. Bucky’s an ass like that, he just raises his coffee cup in greeting and continues to look at his phone.

The ride up to the office is quiet until he hears that god damn click of a pen and his head snaps up from his phone screen. Bucky finally he looks up and takes a deep breath, the sweet smell of her perfume hits him first, he turns his slightly to the side and looks at her.

Bucky hadn’t really looked at her before today. He spent the whole week passing on her work to someone else or just plain avoiding her, he hated that annoying habit she had. But now standing in the brightly lit elevator, he couldn’t help but admire how put together she was.

The way the black skirt she wore hugged her waist all the way down to her knees, the blush pink silky shirt, paired with a black blazer. She was not bad on the eye, why didn’t he notice this before. 

_Click. Click. Click._

Bucky grinds his teeth at the sound, he takes a deep breath again. He wants to say something so badly but he doesn’t. He keeps his mouth shut and prays to god that the elevator hurries the fuck up before he loses his shit.

_Click. Click. Click._

He opens his mouth to say something but thankfully the elevator dings on the landing and she doesn't give him a second look as she walks out the elevator. Still clicking that damn pen.

_Fuck, she worked on his nerves._

 

You sat on the edge of the desk in the large conference room, a massive pile of case files all set out before you. The new case Peggy had you were working on had turned into somewhat of a massive paper trail and after a subpoena had been given to the company that was being sued, they decided to bury you in paperwork. By refusing to give you a single digital copy of their records.

With a tired sigh, you opened one of the boxes and tossed the lid to the side.

It was after 8 PM in the evening, there were still some associates working around the office but most of the partners had gone home or left the office for the evening already. You should have left two hours ago but since you were a junior partner and a managing partner had given you this assignment. You opted to stay and work over time.

It had been three weeks since you had started working at the firm and needless to say, it was the most exhausting work you had ever done. The only help you ever got around here was from Thor, he was the only one who willingly offered you help. Everyone else seemed all too wrapped up in their own business to even care.

The senior partner who you were supposed to be working with on most of your cases, Bucky Barnes, couldn’t seem to be bothered with you in the least bit. He got his assistant to pass messages on to you or just had one of the first year associates come in with a case for you and help you out. This thoroughly frustrated you, because Bucky Barnes seemed like an absolute ass.

In three weeks, you had bumped into him in the elevator almost every morning and every morning he had completely ignored you. Even when you greeted him. Eventually, you stopped greeting him and if you saw him in the elevator, you would just wait till the next one just so you did not have to share a space with him.

You thought about broaching this subject with Peggy Carter but when you had seen how close Bucky and Peggy were, you decided against it. Besides, you didn’t want to be known as the office snitch. Not when you had just started working here, so you kept to yourself and did your work. Work which you knew you were great at.

“Hey, you!” Thor’s loud voice startled you slightly as he pushed open the glass door to the conference room.

“Jesus, Thor. You scared me.” You exclaimed, setting down the case file in your hand and taking a deep breath.

He laughed, Thor had a nice laugh. He was really really handsome, and it was a little distracting. But he always kept it professional between the two of you. He was a junior partner like yourself, he’d been here for a good few years. He pretty much gave you the lowdown on everyone in the firm, who to be friends with, who not to. How to bribe the office quartermaster for the best office supplies, which associates and paralegals to use, which ones not to.

As he put it, he would be the Sam to your Frodo on this quest. Super nerdy and the reference made you laugh.

“Sorry, What are you working on?” He asked, walking into the room and looking over the many boxes before you.

“Wakefield versus Hauser.” You replied,

“Ooh, the wrongful termination and gender discrimination case?” Thor grimaced.

“Yup” You sighed. The case was a bit of a tough one, a woman had been wrongfully terminated after her boss sexually harassed her and they were then claiming that she was a scorned woman who couldn’t do her job because she was in love with her boss. You had seen so many cases like this, in a corporate world run by men, there was always a case like this.

“And let me guess, they are trying to bury you in paperwork?” Thor said, gesturing to the glass table stacked with files.

You nodded and slumped down in one of the comfortable leather chairs, “This is going to take me all night and the deposition is tomorrow morning at Eight.” You sighed and grabbed another file to look over.

“Well, we better get started then.” He said, giving you a smile as he took a seat beside you at the table, armed with a highlighter and a file.

You looked up at him in surprise, “You’d help me?” you asked, thoroughly surprised that he had offered.

“Sure, besides you’re going to need all the help you can get because if this brief isn’t done before the deposition tomorrow, you can be sure Barnes is going to rip into you.” He chuckled.

“Ugh, that guy is such a douchebag.” You muttered, shaking your head at the thought of the ridiculous manner in which Bucky Barnes behaved.

Thor didn’t respond instead he tried to hide his smile and let you continue. “You know in the three weeks I have been here, he hasn’t said a single word to me? He gets his assistant or one of the associates to come talk to me!” You said, with a snort. “How pompous.”

“Well, you should go talk to him.” Thor offered, picking up another file and letting his eyes roam across it as he scanned the information.

“Absolutely not, he was a dick the first day I met him. Plus I’m his new partner, should he be the one coming to meet me?” You replied.

Thor shrugged, “I went to him when I first started here, he’s not the friendliest around here I guess. But he’s pretty decent once you get to know him.”

You looked up from the file you were reading over, at Thor. He had a serious expression on his face as he read through the file before him. Maybe he was right, maybe you should just get over yourself and go and talk to Barnes, how bad could it be. Besides if you were going to make it anywhere in this firm, you really needed to be on his good side.

After that, Thor dropped the conversation about Bucky and switched topics. He offered to buy you dinner and even went out of his way to make sure you didn’t pay for it. He insisted he owed it to you since you had lived in New York for almost a month and no one had bought you dinner yet. It was a sweet gesture and you didn’t want to admit that he was probably the only friend you had here, since moving. If he even considered you a friend at this point.

It didn’t matter, you still appreciated the gesture. The two of you discussing the case and working in tandem to go over the case files, well into the night.

 

The buzzing of your alarm woke you. Groggily you sat up in bed and groaned loudly when you looked over at the alarm clock on the bedside table and read the time. 5:20 AM.

You had to be up and out of the house before 6 AM in order to make it to the office by 7 AM and prepare for the deposition at 8 AM. You couldn’t afford to be late, not by second. Considering Bucky Barnes was going to be present in that deposition you wanted to make a good impression, even though the fucker worked on your nerves so badly.

You had only gone to be at 2 in the morning. After you had left the office, Thor had made sure you got home safely even walking you all the way up to your front door. Even though you had insisted he did not have to. So running on only 2 hours of sleep, you hopped out of bed and set about getting ready for the day. Trying your best to hide that you had barely slept at all the night before.

After a hot shower, and fixing your hair and makeup. You threw on the first outfit you saw and headed downstairs for some breakfast. You had a couple of minutes to spare, so you went to the nearest coffee shop and grabbed a coffee and something to eat.

*********

Across town, in a fancy high rise apartment building, James Buchanan Barnes was following a similar morning routine. Wake up, shower, throw on a two thousand dollar suit, eat breakfast made for him by his chef, greet his neighbors with a polite smile and then get into his town car which would take him to the office.

As Bucky gets out of the car, he adjusts his tie slightly. Already dreading the day, he wanted nothing to do with the deposition Peggy was forcing him to sit through. Mainly because she was leading the deposition. 

Peggy was punishing him for not being more involved in her cases and not welcoming her to the firm properly but he couldn’t care less. He didn’t need a partner, and he certainly didn’t want little miss clicks her pen a lot around him all the time.

But, he knew better than to argue with Peggy. She was right about letting the new girl lead the deposition, he had noticed her around the office. She was soft and kind and smiled at everyone as much as it annoyed him. Bucky really wanted to dislike her but he found himself smiling whenever he saw her interact with one of the new associates or paralegals. 

She was always so respectful and polite, it was rare to have that around a multi-million dollar law firm where everyone was trying to claw their way to the top. Nonetheless, she still worked on his fucking nerves, especially whenever she walked passed him clicking that god damn pen of hers.

Bucky knew he was just being an ass for no reason, but he couldn’t help it. It was the way he was hardwired. Life for him had always been easy, Bucky got whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He was used to getting his way, and this time he didn’t want a partner and he was going to do anything he could to get rid of her.

Bucky adjusts the sunglasses perched on his face as he walked into the massive lobby of the building, walking towards the elevator. As he steps on to it, he immediately sees her in the mirror stepping in behind him. She’s looking down at the briefing in her hand and doesn’t notice him.

“Good Morning.” He said, he watches with amused satisfaction as she jumps slightly startled by his sudden greeting.

Her eyes look up and meet his, and he can’t help but admire what pretty eyes she has.

“Morning.” She replied, sounding somewhat cautious and confused.

“How’s the briefing looking?” Bucky asked, gesturing towards the rather large file in her hand.

“Uh, fine, good, yeah everything is good.” She said, with a curt nod.

Bucky could see her confusion. She clearly wasn’t expecting him to talk to her at all today and this gave him smug satisfaction.

“Need any help or are you all sorted for the deposition?” He continued, giving her his best charming smile.

She frowns slightly and then gives him a smile back, it’s probably the fakest one Bucky’s ever seen but she does it nonetheless. “No thank you, I am all sorted.” She responded. And before Bucky could say anything else, the elevator dinged on the landing and she walked off without giving him a second glance.

He couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched her walk away, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she did so. She garnered the gaze of multiple people as she walked through the office, of course, she did. She was gorgeous and clearly wasn’t at all, phased by his charm like every woman around here. In fact, she seemed annoyed by it and this just gave rise to a challenge Bucky was so ready to tackle.

 

A few minutes later, you walked into your office and dropped the heavy briefing on the desk with a frustrated huff. Bucky Barnes and his sudden politeness had thrown you off, you were not expecting him to even look in your direction today let alone talk to you.

_What the fuck kind of game was he playing at._

Taking a deep breath, you smoothed your skirt and glanced at the clock, it was time to prepare for the deposition in the conference room. You shake your shoulders slightly, trying to put yourself back together and then pick up the file again. Striding purposefully out of your office towards the conference room, only to be met by Bucky once more.

He stood at the glass door, holding it open for you a smile on his handsome face.

_‘What the hell is he doing?’_ You thought to yourself,

“Ready?” Bucky asked you,

You just nodded, his stupid pretty face was throwing you off your game and whatever game he was playing by suddenly being nice to you had put you on edge. Steeling your nerves, you took a seat at the large conference table and placed the file down gently. Bucky took a seat beside you, his chair suddenly very close to yours, close enough that his fingertips brushed against your arm.

Your breath hitched in your throat, you were about to turn to him and say something but Peggy Carter stepped into the conference room, followed by a tall, blonde man whose presence pretty much rivaled Buckys in the room.

“Good Morning.” Peggy greeted you.

“Good morning Peggy.” You replied, getting up to greet her. Bucky was on his feet beside you as well, but his gaze was transfixed to the guy behind Peggy who had a pleasant smile on his face.

“Rogers,” Bucky said, offering his hand to the guy, they shook hands it seemed friendly but you could see there was some sort of rivalry between the two of them.

“Barnes.” Came his response.

“Didn’t know you were calling him in,” Bucky said to Peggy, who sighed deeply and shook her head.

“Buck, please don’t start .” She said, then looked at you, “This is our newest junior partner.” Peggy said introducing you to the man whose name you were yet to find out.

“Steve Rogers.” He said taking your hand and giving you possibly the most handsome smile you had ever seen.

You shook his hand and couldn’t help but return his smile. “Welcome to the team.” He said, his voice was deep and calming and his kind blue eyes had a smile staying on your face.

“Thank you, happy to be here.” You replied but groaned internally at what an idiotic response that was.

“We’re wasting time,” Bucky grumbled, taking a seat. His mood seeming soured by the sudden appearance of Steve Rogers. It made you wonder what was the story between the two of them.

“Play nice boys,” Peggy warned before she walked out of the conference room, leaving you with the two men.

Steve took a seat to your right and leaned back in his chair. The smile never leaving his handsome face.

“Proceed,” Steve said. 

You took a seat as well and opened the briefing, preparing to go over it with them. Why you needed two people in that deposition with you was beyond you but you weren’t going to turn away any help at this point. 

You picked up your pen and Bucky immediately clenched his jaw when he saw you do so. Bracing himself for the annoying habit that was about to ensure. 

_Click. Click. Click._

_‘Everything is going to go to shit, wasn’t it?’_ Bucky thought to himself as the sound of the clicking pen echoed through the room making him grit his teeth.


	3. Cultural Cursing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky make a bet, Peggy says NO and Thor tells a story! Idk this fic was going one way, now its going another, lol. lord help me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing this fic so much! I hope you guys enjoy it too! I promise not to make it to cliche but oh well! I am a sucker for feedback so if you wanna leave a lovely comment, please do! :D

The deposition had started off fine, you took the lead and asked the questions that needed to be answered. But within minutes, Steve and Bucky took over the entire deposition. They fired off questions of their own, each trying to outwit and outshine the other. You grit your teeth and tried not to seem too annoyed by their behavior. This was your case, that you had spent all your time and god damn energy on and these two assholes just railroaded the whole deposition.

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes had a clear rivalry between the two of them, it was so obvious. They kept cutting each other off during the deposition, trying to one-up each other, making comments that were clearly indicative of something entirely different. Needless to say, it actually went in your favor because of their confusing line of questioning the deposition ended with the client wanting to settle and not take the case to trial, much to your surprise.

“Thank you for your time.” You said, shaking the client’s hand once the deposition was over. A quick nod and an exchange of formalities, the client’s walked out of the conference room leaving you alone with the two men.

“Well that went well,” Bucky said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

You clenched your jaw and took a deep breath pointedly ignoring him. Beside you, Steve stood up and adjusted his suit jacket, a smirk on his handsome face.

“Actually it did. They want to settle, means less time wasted on this for us.” He remarked.

“I didn’t need you on this case, why’d you ask to be put on it?” Bucky asked, annoyance visible on his face.

“Because I work here too.” Steve shrugged.

“You have your own cases, Steve.”

“I like yours better.”

“Don’t be a dick,”

“Don’t be a bitch.”

“Oh my god, are you two done?!” You exclaimed, shoving yourself out of your seat and rising angrily your feet. Both men turned to look at you, almost as if they had forgotten you were there. “Firstly you sound like first graders! And secondly, this is my case so neither of you has a say in how it gets handled” You stated, gathering up your files and pens in a huff.

“I for one…” Steve began to say but you cut him off.

“I don’t care what either of you has to say, I spent an entire sleepless night going over the minute details of this company and you two just walked in here and hijacked my deposition. Take your stupid pissing contest elsewhere while I am trying to do my job and if anyone has a problem with it, go to Peggy and complain. I dare you.” You snapped at them.

Steve had an amused smirk on his face as he watched you snap at them, Bucky wore a rather bored expression on his face. Both men were thoroughly amused by your boldness. No one in this entire firm had ever spoken to them like that before. They were used to walking around here, untouchable.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me. I am going to get some actual work done.” You said and then stormed out of the conference room shutting the door behind you and throwing them one last exasperated look, for good measure before you walked away.

“Well…” Steve said with a chuckle as he watched you walk away, “She’s certainly a live wire.”

Bucky looked at Steve and frowned at him, he didn’t like the way he was looking at you. He knew that face, that was Steve’s _‘I’m going to make her a conquest’_ face and it never ended well.

“I think I’m going to like working with her,” he said, turning to Bucky with a smug grin.

“Don’t talk to me.” Bucky retorted and then gathered up his things, exiting the conference room without waiting to hear Steve’s usual witty reply.

 

Steve strolled into Peggy’s office, hands in the pockets of his tailors Armani suit pants. The look on his face already told Peggy he was about to start some trouble.

“My answer is no.” She immediately said, without looking up.

Steve laughed, “But I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“Still no.”

“So who’s the new girl?” Steve asked, taking a seat on the edge of her expensive oak desk.

Peggy sighed and put the fine ballpoint pen she held in her hand down. Leaning back in her leatherback chair, she looks up at the handsome blonde before her.

“Steve Rogers, I know you know who she is, let’s not beat around the bush,” Peggy said.

“Good, then we can skip the formalities.” He replied with a grin.

“What do you want?”

“I want her.”

“Absolutely not.”

“But Peggy…”

“Steve no.”

“Steve Yes?”

“No.”

“Peggy!”

“Steve!”

“You sound like a whiny bitch.” Peggy snorted and shoved Steve off the edge of the desk. He stumbled slightly and regained his balance, smiling widely.

“I want her Peggy.” He repeated, he knew at some point Peggy would cave. He always got his way with Peggy it was one of the perks of working with his ex-wife and best friend. Even though they were no longer together, they never stopped being friends, working together was somehow easier.

“Too bad, I already gave her to Bucky,” she replied.

“Well, give him someone else. I want her.” He said.

“I am not having this conversation, I already assigned the junior partners for this quarter Steve. So you can go argue with Bucky if you want her on your team.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side, you’re my wife” Steve argued, straightening his suit jacket and tie.

“No, I’m supposed to be your boss and ex-wife,” Peggy said.

Steve smiled at her, he couldn’t argue with her as much as he wanted to. So with a sigh, he grumbled under his breath and shook his head. “Fine, I’ll go speak to him.”

“No, you won’t.” Peggy instructed, “I need Bucky to work with her, just use the junior partner I gave you Steve or go find an associate whose looking for a mentor.”

“I don’t want an associate and you stuck me with Maria Hill she’s got a stick up her ass,” Steve muttered. “She’s no fun.” 

“If you’re done whining like a baby, go do some of the work I pay you for.” Peggy laughed, tossing a crumpled up piece of paper at him. Steve caught it effortlessly and grinned at her before sighing dramatically and walking out of her office.

 

After you had stormed out of the conference room and the adrenaline from the moment had died down, you suddenly began to panic a little. You had just snapped at two senior partners and didn’t apologize for it, quickly making your way back to your office take several deep breaths to calm yourself down and then the magnitude of what you had just done hits you.

“Oh my god, I’m going to get fired.” You groaned, slumping down in your chair. Thor who had just invited himself into your office sits in front of you and laughs.

“I can’t believe you called them first graders, although they do act like first graders” He laughed loudly.

“I have to go an apologize.” You said, panicking even more.

“What, no don’t do that. Unless you get into any trouble, it shows you have some backbone and they won’t walk all over you again.” He said.

“But what if I get fired?” You exclaimed.

“They can’t fire you for going off at them, come on you’re a lawyer you should know this,” Thor said, giving you a grin that comforted you slightly.

“Why are they such assholes.” You sighed, trying to calm your nerves a little.

“Because they’re the best lawyers in this place” Thor shrugged.

“What’s the deal with them anyway?” You asked, “Why do they hate each other so much?”

“Believe it or not, they’re actually best friends or they used to be,” he replied, he picked up a file from the desk and flipped through it as he explained the complicated relationship between the two of them. “Peggy, Steve, Tony, and Bucky all went to Harvard together.”

“So what happened?”

“Peggy started her own company with Stark and hired both of them, it was cool at first, apparently they were like three peas in a pod. Did everything together but the bigger the firm became the bigger the rivalry got between the two of them. Then Peggy married Steve and it sort of became the two of them against Bucky most of time and shit turned bad. Stark isn’t around as often as he used to be, but things changed when Peggy and Steve got divorced, no one knows why they did. Bucky and Steve are still giant assholes to each other but less than before. It’s all hush-hush around here.” Thor said,

“Sounds like a whole lot of drama.” You commented.

“It was, now everyone just coasts around them and stays out of their way. Peggy and Tony won’t get rid of them because they are pretty much the best damn lawyers in New York if I’m being honest. They’re the reason this firm is where it is.” He said,

A knock on the office door interrupts your conversation with Thor. You look to see Steve Rogers standing on the other side of the glass door with a gorgeous grin on his face.

Thor looked at you and raised his eyebrows. “Well that’s my cue to leave, good luck,” he said getting up from his seat and opening the door for Steve. “Rogers.” he nodded a greeting at him.

“Hey, Bud.” Steve greeted him, as he walked in clapping him lightly on the shoulder. He waited until Thor had left the office and shut the glass door behind him before he turned back to you.

“What can I do for you, Mr Rogers?” You asked politely, even though your heart was hammering in your chest at the sight of him.

“Please, call me Steve.” He replied, then gestured to one of the chairs, asking if he could sit. You nodded and took a deep breath. Preparing yourself for whatever was about to come.

“So, Steve how can I help you?”

“Well, I have a proposition for you,” Steve said, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. One look at him and you knew Steve Rogers was going to cause you a whole lot of trouble at this firm.

 

Bucky sat at his desk, irritably drumming his fingers on the glass desk. He was trying to focus on the emails before him but for some reason, he couldn’t. Well, he knew the reason, he just wholly ready to admit the reason to himself.

What distracted him more was when he saw Steve walk passed his office and in the direction of hers. This annoyed him, he and Steve had always had a rivalry, it used to be friendly in the beginning. They had been friends since they were seven years old, but in recent years the rivalry just turned ugly and there was a lot to be mended between the two of them.

Steve made it a point to be better at everything than Bucky was, he never minded being second best to golden boy Steve Rogers but ever since the incident with Peggy, Bucky found it harder to forgive Steve every time he was a competitive asshole.

He also knew once Steve set his sights on something, there was no stopping him. And as much as he didn’t like her, Bucky for some reason didn’t want Steve to have her. Not in any capacity, be it professional or personal.

Sighing frustratedly, Bucky got up from his seat and began to pace the length of his lavish large office. Occasionally pausing to cast a glance over at Steve who he could now visibly see, seated in her office. His back facing him, Bucky could see she was smiling at Steve, whatever he said was clearly humorous to her.

Bucky saw her laugh, she was really pretty he couldn’t deny that. Everything about her was so well put together, the way she conducted herself in the deposition even when he and Steve were being jackasses, she remained calm and collected. And yet, when she snapped at the two of them, he suddenly found himself utterly fascinated by her. It was weird.

“Fuck this.” He muttered and decided he was done seeing Steve in her office. He grabbed a case file off his desk and walked over to her office, not bothering to knock before he walked in.

“Oh hey, Buck.” Steve greeted him smugly. Man, he wanted to punch that look off Steve’s face.

“Don’t you have work to do?” Bucky retorted, looking pointedly at Steve.

Steve didn’t seem phased by Bucky’s cold demeanor, he turned to her and said, “Think about it, come to talk to me when you’re ready.”

Suddenly he was curious, what had Steve said to her or offered her. Already internally groaning Bucky knew this was going to be an itch he had to scratch now. Steve was obviously going to play this silly little game with him, and knowing himself, Bucky was going to bite the bait and get into the ring with him again.

“Sure, thanks Steve.” She replied as he walked out then turned her gaze to Bucky.

“You needed something, James?” She asked. A smile on her pretty face.

_‘Fucking hell, she’s gorgeous’_ Bucky thought to himself as he looked over her.

“Uh yeah, here’s a case.” He cleared his throat and handed it to her. “Look it over, we going to trial next week. I want you there with me.”

He didn’t wait for her response, but the stunned look on her face was the exact reaction he wanted. A smirk on his handsome face as he walked back out her office.

Steve fell into step beside him the moment he did.

“Usual bet?” Steve asked.

“Double or nothing.” Came Bucky’s reply.


	4. Dominating Discussions

A rare moment where you weren’t inundated with work, you found yourself walking out of the office on a Thursday evening at 5 PM. You already had your evening planned out, you were going home to open a bottle of wine, put on a clay mask and binge watch some Netflix show.

As you stepped out of the building, you see Bucky walking through the lobby, on his arm a gorgeous blonde. She is talking to him and to your amazement, he is actually smiling for once. You want to avoid an interaction with him, so you quickly look away and begin to walk a little faster down the stairs of the building. Since he gave you a case to work on with him, it had suddenly become weird between the two of you. He was being nicer to you, listening to your opinions and even said you could take point in court on the first day which was tomorrow.

You had no idea why he was trying to be nice to you all of a sudden, but you didn’t trust it for a second. You were smarter than that. It was weirder that suddenly Steve Rogers was also bumping into you every day, bringing you coffee and having casual chats with you, just checking up on you as he put it.

When you had mentioned this to Thor, he said that they tended to do that when Peggy saw potential in someone. But you could tell there was some underlying motive for their niceness. There was no way overnight these two had just decided you were their new favorite person at the firm.

“Hey Y/N.” A voice behind you startled you and you immediately recognized it, groaning softly before turning around. It was Bucky, how the hell he managed to catch up to you so quickly was beyond you.

Wincing slightly as you really didn’t want to speak to him right now, you turned around slowly and put a fake smile on your face. “Hi, James.” You responded, glancing quickly at the redhead on his arm, clad in a gorgeous black and gold evening gown. Bucky wore a tuxedo and he looked utterly gorgeous in it, it fitted every inch of his body so perfectly and looked like it cost more than what most of the associates made in a month.

“Where are you off to?” Bucky asked.

“Home.” Your response was a little curter than you had intended but Bucky didn’t seem to notice.

“Aren’t you coming to the gala dinner?” He asked, a frown on his face.

“What gala dinner?”

“The one all the partners have to attend? Did your assistant not give you the invite?”

You hesitated, trying to remember if your assistant Wanda had told you about this event and you had just forgotten or if she had just not told you at all. The look on your face let Bucky know that you knew nothing about this gala and he chuckled.

“Did you forget or not get the invite?” He asked, an amused smile on his handsome face.

“I can’t remember, I have been so busy with work.” You sighed, adjusting the strap of the laptop bag you carried, on your shoulder.

“Okay, well you’re in luck.” Bucky said to you then turned to the redhead, “Nat, take Y/N’s stuff back up to the office and let the driver know we’re making a stop on the way.”

The woman nodded and smiled at you, reaching out for the items in your hand. “Oh no it’s fine I’ll just…” but Bucky cut you off.

“Just give her your stuff and I’ll take you home to get dressed.” He instructed.

You sighed and handed the items to her, which she took with a gracious smile on her face.

“Thank you.” You called after her as she walked away gracefully in those six-inch heels. You felt bad that you were treating her like an assistant considering she was Bucky’s date. After she took your items, you watched as she walked back into the building with it.

“Come on, let’s go,” Bucky said, gesturing towards the sleek black Mercedes that had pulled up at the curb, at the passenger door stood the driver. Dressed in full black, a polite smile on his face.

“I really don’t need a chaperone home, James.” You said, not moving an inch towards his car.

“It’s not a chaperone, Its a free ride.” He quipped.

“I am perfectly capable of getting myself home.”

“I know you are but I’d like to escort you to the gala. So will you be so kind as to let me?” Bucky said, shaking his head with an amused smirk on his face at your stubbornness.

You looked him once over and made a quick decision. You really didn’t know where this gala was, or anyone there really, seeing as you didn’t get the invite or forgot. It wouldn’t harm you to let him escort you, on the plus side he was hot and having a hot guy on your arm at a gala was always a good thing even you knew this.

“Fine.” You sighed and then moved towards the car. A big smile came over his face as you agreed, he fell into step beside you and the two of you walked towards the car and the driver opened the door before you got there.

“Thank you.” You said to him giving him a smile. The man just nodded and smiled back.

“Aren’t we going to wait for your date?” You asked Bucky quizzically before you got into the car.

Bucy chuckled, “That’s not my date, that’s my assistant.”

“Aren’t we going to wait for her?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“She didn’t want to come to this thing anyway, you just gave her a get out of jail free card,” Bucky said.

“Oh.” was all you managed to say as the two of you got into the car. you had no idea why the hell you were being so compliant. You had clearly forgotten about this gala and could have easily said so to Peggy should she ask why you were not in attendance, but somehow Bucky’s charming self was breaking down your usually strong resolve and making you compliant.

“So where to?” He asked once you had both gotten into the car. You give the driver the address and leaned back against the gorgeous leather, enjoying the rich smell of it. It was so easy to see how Bucky was always so arrogant when his lifestyle included being chauffeured around in a Mercedes with a driver and wearing two thousand dollar tuxedos.

The car ride to your place was silent, Bucky kept clearing his throat and shifting in his seat and you ignored him and opted to stare out the window at the passing buildings. It was awkward enough having to work for him when you knew he disliked you and even more so now being confined to a small space with him.

“Uhh do you want to come up?” You asked him as the driver pulled up in front of your building. You had no idea why the fuck you were inviting him up and silently prayed he would say no, but of course, he didn’t.

“Yeah sure.” He replied, smiling at you as he got out the car behind you.

 

Half an hour later, you stepped out of your bedroom clad in a silk emerald green formal gown. Hair did, makeup is done, you were putting on teardrop diamond earrings to match the deep shade of green. You didn’t want Bucky to wait too long for you to get ready so you had pulled on the first thing you saw, at first you thought it would be too much but when you remembered the dress his assistant was wearing you shrugged and slipped it on anyway. 

Bucky was waiting in the living room, his back to you when you walked in. He was staring at the various photos on the wall, it was a sliver of a look into your life and who you were and he was taking the opportunity to peek behind the curtain. He roamed around your apartment, picking up various books and photos while he waited for you. You cleared your throat and he turned around quickly, his eye widening for a split second before a neutral expression came over his face once more.

“Too much?” You asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious beneath his piercing starlight gaze.

“No, no. It’s …great.” He smiled, pausing for a moment as he tried to find the right adjective to describe how you look and trying to maintain professionalism between the two of you. “Shall we?” He gestured for you to walk in front of him. You nodded and walked out with him following closely behind you.

 

Thor stood beside you, looking utterly dashing in his tuxedo. A smile on the tall blondes face as the two of you listened to one of the board members of the firm go on and on about budget reports and meeting deadlines. It was thoroughly boring, you had been half paying attention to what he was saying, your eyes roaming around the room taking in the various guests in attendance. Everyone seemed so uppity at this event, various firms had gathered, it was supposed to be a charity event but it seemed more like a competition to see who had the biggest checkbook in your opinion.

“Fascinating stuff Sir.” Thor said, clasping the man’s shoulder with a gorgeous smile, “But I do believe Mrs. Carter is beckoning myself and Y/N over,”

You frowned and looked at Peggy who was engaged in a conversation with Steve and Bucky. They looked like they were having quite the heated discussion. It suddenly dawned on you what Thor was doing and you were about to say something when Thor grabbed your hand and guided you away from the man.

“Thank God, If I had to listen to that old bastard talk for one more second I was going to rip off my arm and beat myself to death with it.” Thor groaned, grabbing two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter. You laughed heartily at his comment, you really did like spending time with him. He was funny, witty, and one hell of a charmer. The woman around the office adored him.

“I was enjoying his company actually.” You joked, taking one of the glasses from him and taking a sip of the deliciously expensive alcohol.

“I mean I can call him back if you want?” Thor said, raising his hand as if he were about to beckon the guy over again.

“No no! I am fine!” You said quickly pulling on his muscular arm to stop him.

He laughed, his incredibly blue eyes twinkling as he did. How the hell was this idiot single? It had been two months since you had befriended him and neither of you had gotten down to talking personal lives with each other.

Thor usually came around to your office with the office gossip for you or helped you with a case whenever you needed. Lunchtime dates were now a thing for the two of you and you were grateful for his companionship.

“Everyone here is so stuffy.” He muttered softly to you as the two of you walked through the crowd.

“Not your crowd?”

“Not at all. I am more of a beer and tacos at home kind of man.” He replied, pulling out a chair at the table the two of you were assigned to. The place cards on the table had various other names on it, you noted Bucky’s name was on the seat next to yours.

“Well, when are we going to get beers and tacos?” You asked him.

Thor looked at you surprised for a moment, “I never really pegged you for the kind of girl to like that type of shit.”

You laughed, “Just because I walk around in Louboutins around the office doesn’t mean that’s who I am, Thor”

“Soon then? I’ll make the tacos, you bring the beer.” He nodded a smile on his face.

“Sounds like a plan.” You replied, lifting your glass and clinking it with his,

The conversation between the two of you flowed, it was simple and easy. He kept you company for the better part of the evening, all through the gala dinner. Where you were seated at the table with Peggy, Bucky, Steve, Sam Wilson another partner at the firm, Pepper Potts who turned out was another board member of Carter and Stark and Peter Quill another junior partner.

Steve and Bucky kept quipping back and forth the entire dinner, at each other. It was all good fun, but you could tell there was an underlying tension and when the dinner was over, each person dispersed slowly but surely going off to mingle. You were pulled in different directions to speak to different groups of people with Peggy and Steve. Steve who stood beside you occasionally winking at you or making a comment about how great you looked.

Finally, you needed some air and politely excuse yourself from the group. Heading off in the direction of the nearest exit.

The soft sounds of classical music traveled through the extravagantly large hallway of the building, heels clicking on the Italian marble floor as you wandered through them. Peggy introduced you to a few of the board members in attendance, and you politely stood around, drinking expensive champagne and making menial conversation with them about how great it was to work for Peggy and Tony whom you hadn’t even met you. They asked how you found New York and you gave every person who asked you the same answer. It was beginning to get tedious. You left the massive dining room and found the nearest balcony to escape to.

Carrying your glass of champagne which had you feeling delightfully buzzed at this point, you admire the artwork on the walls as you walked down the hallway. There were various renaissance paintings, a landscape of an Italian vineyard, a pastel-colored painting of the Empire State building. The hallway being dimly lit and much quieter than the massive dining area you had just been in, it provided you with a much needed moment of quiet. You finally stopped at the balcony door and pushed them open, stepping out into the cool fresh evening air.

It’s mostly quiet save for the occasional car passing by or car horn in the distance. The party was on the highest floor of the building you were in, and the view from the top was breathtaking. Stars twinkling in the clear evening sky, a full moon illuminating the bustling city before you. You enjoyed the moment of quiet, it had been a nonstop race from the moment you moved here two months ago and it was still difficult for you to find your feet in this city.

“Nice night out.” A male voice cut through the air, starling you.

“Holy shit!” You yelped and whirled around towards the direction of the voice. Steve Rogers stood a few feet away, looking as dashing as ever in his dark tuxedo. Blonde hair brushed neatly to the side, a handsome smile on his face. His chest was so expansive it looked as if it were going to rip out of the tuxedo shirt and jacket.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Steve apologized with a chuckle. In his hand he held two glasses of champagne, he walked over to where you stood and offered you one.

You polished off the glass you had in your hand and accepted the champagne he held out to you. “Why are you out here by yourself?” Steve asked, leaning his elbow against the balcony rail and looking at you.

“Needed some air.”

“I guess this isn’t your scene huh?” He smiled at you.

“No, it is. It’s just taking me a little time to get used to all this.” You replied. 

“Is it the city or the job?” Steve asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Both, I suppose.”

“Do you like working at Carter and Stark?”

“I do”

“But?”

You paused and took a long drink from the champagne flute, savoring the crisp taste of the alcohol. “But it’s a little different than when I lived in Baltimore,” You smiled at him, “People are not as friendly I guess.”

“Well, You do work for Bucky so that would explain a lot.” He chuckled.

“Oh yeah, he’s great.” You couldn’t help the sarcasm that laced your tone as the words escaped your mouth.

Steve laughed out loud at your tone and somehow you find yourself smiling at this. His laugh was infectious, this man as dangerous and you knew it.

“It gets better, don’t worry. Bucky isn’t always an asshole.” Steve said. “He’s a decent guy given the right incentives.”

“The right incentives?” You questioned raising an eyebrow.

“You’ll see.” Was all Steve said, a smirk coming over his handsome features.

“So what was that about by the way? In the deposition?”

Steve shrugged and downed his drink, “We’re competitive, always have been. We can’t help it.”

“Professional.” You snarked and finished your drink as well.

“Oh, you have no idea.” He replied the roguish glint in his eyes made you shiver. Steve seemed like a genuine guy but there was something about him that you couldn’t quite figure out. He was sweet enough to you around the office, always offering you help or casually stopping by to chat to you but you couldn’t help but feel like there was an ulterior motive. Ever since the deposition, Steve was being extra nice to you. You didn’t want to doubt his kindness, but there was something you were missing and you couldn’t figure it out. Not yet anyway.

“I should get back inside.” You said, handing the empty champagne flute to him.

“Or we could ditch this party and go to a real one?” Steve suggested, his suggestion throwing you for a loop.

“Ohh no, that seems like a terrible idea.” You replied, shaking your head. You knew better than to leave this party with Steve. This wouldn’t end well for either of you, plus he was Peggy’s ex-husband. There was no way in hell you were going to get involved in this.

“Come on, live a little.” Steve urged you, he was grinning at you. The damn smile slowly breaking your resolve. ‘Bad idea!’ you brain screamed at you but you didn’t listen, of course, you didn’t listen.

“I’ll have you home before midnight,” he added.

Shaking your head you looked out at the city before you and shivered slightly at the cool breeze that blew around you. Internally you were having an argument with yourself over whether you should go with Steve or not. It was a terrible terrible idea but you were so tempted to. He was suddenly like the dark side and you were Anakin Skywalker. You just couldn’t resist

“Fine.” You shrugged.

A grin breaks out on Steve’s face and he holds his hand out for you. “Follow me down the rabbit hole then sweetheart,” Steve said. You let him take your hand in his and lead you off the balcony. already regretting this decision.

 

Bucky escaped the party for a moment, he hated these damn events. It always annoyed him the way everyone sucked up to each other, the fake conversations and polite smiles. It was such a waste of his time but he did it for Peggy. He always did it for her.

Pulling at the collar of his crisp white tuxedo shirt, he stepped down the stairs of the massive building, sighing deeply. He wanted to go home and sleep, that’s all he wanted. He was exhausted and had court tomorrow morning. He wasn’t sure if he was going to win this case and it was giving him sleepless nights, more so than he cared to admit. But there were investors here, who wanted to talk to him, Steve and to Peggy and other board members. Tony was supposed to make an appearance at this but had canceled at the last minute, as he always did.

He heard a woman laugh, it echoed through the lobby and caught his attention. Bucky looked up and his gaze caught the sight of her in that gorgeous emerald green gown, which fell over her curves so perfectly. She had a smile on her face, such a pretty smile, but a scowl came over his face when he saw Steve walking beside her. Hands in his pocket, casually strutting with confidence beside her. Steve says something and makes her laugh again, this irritates Bucky even more.

It’s the way she walked beside Steve that irritates him. A casual friendliness she had with Steve, one she didn’t have with him. He knew it was his own fault if he hadn’t been such an ass to her when she first started things could have been different but his pride got in the way and he was never one to admit he was wrong. A fault he knew he had to work on at some point in his life but that was a problem for another time.

For a moment, and only a moment Bucky wanted to walk over there and say something but he stopped himself. He has no right to tell her who she can and can’t be friends with and he knows this game. He knows Steve and he knows they will both do whatever it takes to win. Instead, he takes a deep breath and calms himself down, he always has tomorrow. She’s a smart girl, she can hold her own against Steve’s charm or so he thought.

And for a brief moment, as they walked out the door she turned her gaze towards him and their eyes met. She smiled at him and Bucky cursed himself for not smiling back because her smile simply dazzled him. _What the hell was it about this woman that simultaneously irritated the shit out of him and dazed him._


	5. Emotional Empathy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky suddenly realizes he may like her more than he is letting on. the stakes are raised and a little incident between you and Bucky make things a little more real for both of you.

Late. That’s what you were in that moment, you were supposed to meet Bucky at the courthouse twenty minutes ago and the constant buzzing in your bag was an indicator of how impatient he was getting waiting for you.

It wasn’t that you had forgotten about your appointment with the judge this morning, which both you and Bucky were to attend together. It was just that you stayed out a little later than expected with Steve. He had taken you to a Piano lounge and the two of you had spent the night talking over old fashions and expensive gin. Before you knew it you were drunk and stumbling into your apartment at four in the morning, knowing you were going to severely regret this decision in a couple of hours.

And now, here you were rushing up the stairs of the courthouse, dodging out of the way of various people, nearly bumping into a mail delivery boy, almost being bowled over by two police officers and then you see Bucky standing near one of the benches in bustling hallway of the courthouse, he is wearing a dark navy blue suit and as always looked so neatly put together, you hated him for it.

It was a busy courthouse, there were people being released, being escorted from courtroom to courtroom. Families mourning decisions, others celebrating a verdict. A group of jurors walked passed you with grim expressions and you could only imagine what decision rested on their shoulders. Bucky looked up from the file in his hand and his expression changes to relief when he sees you.

“About damn time!” He snapped without bothering to say hello.

“I know, I know, I am sorry.” You said breathlessly, taking the files he shoved into your hands. You were trying to balance the files you had brought with you now and the rest of the stuff he handed you. Out of breath and feeling a little queasy, your nerves were settling in as you looked around you. It was going to be your first time in court as a partner at Carter and Stark, the last thing you wanted to do was fuck it up.

“Are you ready?” Bucky asked.

You just nodded, scared that if you spoke your voice would betray your nerves. In all your life as a lawyer you had never been nervous to go to court, but there was something about Bucky and his demeanor that was making you nervous.

Bucky doesn’t say anything, he turned and began to walk away, leaving you rushing after him once more.

Once inside the judge’s chambers, you sat beside Bucky facing the judge. The meek man sat before you, glasses on the bridge of his nose as he stared down at the file before him, reading through it. You gazed around his office, it was richly decorated with dark cherry wood furniture, the large desk was neatly organized. Case files on the right, a sleek silver laptop in front of him, behind him on the massive shelf were various law books, his degree from Harvard University, a photo frame with him and a dark-haired woman whom you assumed was his wife. On his name plaque, it read _Bruce banner._

Beside you, Bucky shifted in his seat as he waited for Banner to read through the documents he had provided. He had a stoic expression on his face, you couldn’t read his emotions but you noticed the nervous tick he had, where every few seconds he could tap his fingers against his knee. It was either impatience or nerves, with Bucky you could never tell.

“Okay Barnes, I’ll accept these findings, we will submit them to evidence. Proceedings will begin on Monday 9 AM. We will notify the defendant.” Bruce finally said breaking the silence.

Bucky’s shoulder’s finally relaxed when Bruce spoke, he seemed happy with this decision. “Thank you, Banner, I appreciate this.”

“Don’t fuck this up, James,” Bruce stated getting out of his seat and shaking Bucky’s hand.

“I won’t.” Bucky smiled at the man, whom you assumed by his casual manner was his friend of some kind.

“And welcome to the team,” Bruce said turning to you and shaking your hand as well. “You’re in good hands here with this one.” He pointed to Bucky.

“Uh thanks,” You replied, awkwardly shaking his hand while holding the many files Bucky had given you in the other arm.

“Good Luck,” Bruce said, nodding to the two of you as you bid him goodbye and walked out of his chambers.

Bucky fell into step beside you, the two of you making your way out of the courthouse once more. He was quiet until you hit the courthouse steps and then he stopped in front of you. Looking down at him with a puzzled expression on your face, you waited for him to explain what the hell he was doing.

He pulled out his sunglasses and put them on before he began speaking. “Go to the office and do a little prep for Monday, You are taking lead on this. I want to know everything there is to know about this guy before we put him on the stand. I don’t want any mistakes, he is a sociopath, a manipulative one.” Bucky said,

“Where should I start?” You asked. This case was a big deal for the firm, one of their clients had brought the case to them. She was being accused of accepting bribes to fund foreign illegal oil operations in the middle east but it was not her who had done the bribing but her partner. The case was given to Bucky because Peggy knew him of all people could win it and because of course, the client had specifically asked for him and Steve.

“Go through the financial records again, there must be something we missed. Find Sam Wilson, he’s the best with this sort of thing. Also, ask Thor to help you as well, we need all the information before we go to court on Monday.” Bucky said.

“What are you going to do?” You asked. It was all well and good that he was giving you all the work, but there was no way in hell he was getting away with doing nothing.

“I am going to have lunch with the defendant, suss out the competition.” He replied looking at you from behind his blacked out sunglasses.

You had no idea why he was having lunch with the opposition but you didn’t care enough to ask. You just shrugged and said okay. Then watched him descend the steps and get into the black Mercedes once more.

Sighing deeply, you adjusted the many items in your hand so that you had a better grip on it and made your way down the courthouse steps. Hailing a cab at the corner you got in and asked the driver to take you to your offices.

 

The evening came and everyone slowly began milling out of the building. Lights were being turned off, cleaning staff came and went, tidying up after the bustling staff who had mostly left by now. And you sat in your office, still working on the briefings Bucky had asked you to take care of. It had been a long day, longer than usual because of how tired you were but you stayed and worked. Sam had come through and helped you at some point during the day, it was the first time you had met him. He was simply charming, he shamelessly flirted with you, and told you if you ever needed any help again, he was at your beck and call.

Thor had his own cases to deal with so you opted out of asking him for help and instead asked one of the paralegals for assistance.

Your assistant Wanda knocked on your office door and stepped in, breaking your concentration momentarily.

“Hey, I’m going to leave for the day. You need anything else from me before I go?” She asked.

“No, I’m good. Thanks, Wanda.” You replied, giving her a smile.

“Okay, give me a buzz if you need anything.” She said, smiling back at you before saying goodnight. She walked out of the office, her red hair billowing behind her as she picked up her various items and waved to you through the glass as she left.

You waved back and then got back to the work at hand. Hours passed before you noticed the time, your body’s exhaustion finally kicking in and you realized you hadn’t eaten dinner yet either. It was a Friday night, usually back in Baltimore you would have left work by 5pm and gone out with your friends, for a night of socializing and drinking. But here in New York you hardly knew anyone so going out wasn’t really an option for you at this point and going home was a little lonely, so work was your haven.

“You’re still here?” Bucky’s voice startled you from your thoughts.

“God damn it, what is with you people and sneaking up on me!” You exclaimed, placing your hand over your heart to try and steady its thumping.

“What?” He replied, a confused look on his face.

“Never mind.” You shook your head, not wanting to get into a conversation with him about Steve. “Yes, I am still here.”

“Why?”

“Because you said you wanted this done before Monday?” You replied, incredulously.

“Jesus, I didn’t mean work all through the night.” Bucky said, “Come on, go home or go out. It’s a Friday night.”

You shrugged, “I don’t mind staying late, better to have it done now than later.”

“Have you had dinner?” Bucky suddenly asked you. He was lingering in the doorway longer than necessary for some reason.

“No, I got caught up in all this. I’ll get something on the way home.” You said.

“Alright, let’s go. Leave all this. I am taking you out to dinner.” He ordered, walking over to your desk and closing your laptop.

“What, no James I have to finish this.” You tried to protest.

“No, you don’t. Let’s go.” Bucky grabbed your phone and purse off the desk and handed it to you, expectantly.

You opened your mouth to protest again but your stomach answered for you by growling loudly much to your embarrassment. Bucky chuckled and shrugged, “Come on,” was all he said, gesturing towards the door. You sighed and turned off the lights in your office, following Bucky out and locking the door behind you.

“What do you want to eat?” Bucky asked you, as the two of you stepped onto the elevator.

“I have no idea.” You said.

“Should I just pick something?” He offered.

“Sure.”

A moment of silence fell between the two of you again as you rode the elevator down to the lobby. And when the elevator dinged at the landing you see Peggy Carter walking through the lobby, dressed in a gorgeous black dress, hair pinned up as if she were going on a date.

“Oh hello, you two.” She greeted you both when she saw you step out of the elevator.

“Hello Peggy,” You said, greeting her with a smile.

“Hey” Bucky greeted her back, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Date night?” he asked looking over he appearance.

“Yes and don’t sound so surprised James, just because I am married to my job doesn’t mean I can’t have fun ever so often.” She chuckled,

“Well, good luck kiddo.” He replied with a smile. You couldn’t help but notice how pleasant he had suddenly become around Peggy, he was relaxed and casual in his demeanor towards her, a softer side of him and you liked it. “Have fun.”

Peggy smiled and said goodnight to again, before walking away. She paused for a moment and turned back to look at Bucky, “Behave.” Was all she said and then continued to walk away. You frowned after her, wondering what she meant by that.

“Behave?” You questioned, as the two of you make your way to his car.

“I have no idea why she said that.” Bucky shrugged, sliding into the seat beside you. You didn’t believe him for a second, he knew exactly what Peggy meant. He gives the driver the address and settles back into his seat.

That awkward silence falls between the two of you again and to your surprise, Bucky is the one who breaks it first.

“So, settling in alright?” he asked.

“I guess,” You replied

“How do you like New York?”

“It’s..uhh easy to get lost.”

Bucky chuckled at that comment, “I can see that lived here my whole life and I still feel a little lost some days.”

“I don’t really go out much, mostly work and then home.” You explained,

“You should change that, New York has great nightlife, don’t bury yourself in work all the time,” Bucky said a smile on his face.

“True, but I don’t really know any places so” You shrugged.

“I could you around sometime” Bucky offered much to your surprise.

“You don’t have to…” You started to say but he cuts you off.

“I want to,” he interjected,

You were surprised by his sudden insistence to take you out, in fact, you were surprised by how this whole night was going. It made you a little apprehensive but you were going with it, maybe he finally decided to give you a chance and stop treating you like an outsider.

“Yeah okay, I guess that would be nice,” You said to him,

Bucky gave you a satisfactory nod and then falls silent again. The two of you remaining so until the driver pulled up to the restaurant.

“Thanks, Arthur,” Bucky said before getting out the car and bidding the driver good night.

When you stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk, you immediately knew he had taken you to a Michelin star restaurant in the Upper east side. The whole place just oozes upper class, the bourgeoisie, and expensive champagne. It wasn’t really your type of place but then when you looked at the suit Bucky Barnes was wearing it made sense that he and his three thousand dollar suit would come and eat dinner at a place like this.

“Shall we?” Bucky asked, gesturing for you to walk before him towards the restaurant as he buttons up his suit jacket.

You nod and make your way toward the restaurant. Upon arrival, Bucky is greeted by the hostess who knows him by name and even takes him to his usual table. She seats the two of you and brings you a waiter who greeted Bucky like they were old friends, clearly, he brought a lot of women here by the looks you were receiving from them.

After the waiter brings out the most expensive looking bottle of wine and the two of you have ordered, Bucky seemed to finally relax. You, on the other hand, had never felt tenser,

It wasn’t that you didn’t like the place, it was more so that you had no idea what to talk to Bucky about. The sound of soft piano keys being played through the restaurant and the soft murmur of voices made the silence between the two of you less awkward.

“So do you have any brothers and sisters?” Bucky asked breaking the silence between the two of you.

“No, just lonely old me. My parents weren’t the family type.” You said, “And you?”

“I have one sister, younger than me and she’s a colossal pain n my ass.” He said,

And you laughed, which actually surprised you because you weren’t expecting that.

“Does she live here in New York too?”

“She does yes, she’s doing her residency at Lennox Hill.”

“So are all of you just successful or?” You joked.

“Well unfortunately for us, my parents had such high standards failure wasn’t tolerated in our home.” Bucky chuckled.

“Seems rather dull,” You replied with a smile.

And just like that the conversation between the two of you opened up, and you found yourself sharing more and more with him and vice versa. You told him about your life, where you went to school, your parents, why you moved to New York. Everything. And in return, Bucky told you about his times in university with Peggy and Steve and various places to visit in New York. and over a shared dessert an unexpected moment happened when Bucky reached across the table and wiped the side of your mouth from the chocolate that was there, after telling you the story of how he got drunk in his freshman year of college and wound up waking up in Mexico.

This gesture startled both of you, the comfortable ease that had fallen over the two of you dissipating instantly. Two bottles of wine in and your head was buzzing, and with that, you knew it was time to go home before anything further happened. But Bucky took the thoughts right out of your head.

“It’s late,” He said pulling back and clearing his throat, “We should head out.”

“Yeah, yeah we should.” You said quickly

Bucky signaled the waiter to bring the cheque and you had never seen anyone pay a bill so fast and hurry you out of a restaurant in your entire life. The two of you awkwardly waiting on the curb for Bucky’s driver to pull up.

“I’ll just take a cab,” You said signaling a cab driver who immediately pulled over,

“No, don’t be silly I’ll take you home,” Bucky tried to protest but you didn’t give him a chance to change your mind.

“No really, I’m in the opposite direction its fine. Thanks for dinner Mr. Barnes, have a good night.” You said hurriedly and got into the cab, you couldn’t get away from him fast enough. 

 

Bucky watched as you got into the cab and drove off, leaving him standing on the curb feeling like an idiot. “It’s Bucky and goodnight, I guess.” He muttered to himself shaking his head. This night had really taken a weird turn and he had no idea how to process it.

Monday morning Bucky walked into his office to find Steve lounging on the couch flipping through a magazine.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He snapped dropping his briefcase on the desk. He was slightly hungover and had spent the whole weekend with a woman whose name he had already forgotten, but it had put him in a bad mood for some reason.

“Well good morning to you to sunshine,” Steve said getting to his feet and smoothing down the front of his expensive suit.

“Steve, I am really not in the mood to have a whole thing, can you just spit it out and then leave,” Bucky sighed taking a seat at his desk,

“Just thought I’d stop by and let you know how close I am to winning and that if you want to surrender now, we can call it even and I’ll take her off your hands,” Steve said smugly. After she had come out with him and certain events almost transpired he was sure he would win and well Steve Rogers loved to brag.

“I’m not surrendering shit,” Bucky snapped, “And you’re nowhere close to winning, so get the fuck out of my office and go do your job.”

Steve laughed and shook his head, “You know I am going to win, just like I did the last three times Buck,”

Bucky took a deep breath to calm himself down, man, he wanted to punch Steve but contrary to popular belief Bucky wasn’t really an asshole and he actually did care what happened to her. Even though he made this stupid bet with Steve, he hated to admit that she wasn’t something that should be traded so easily and he felt a little bad for it.

“Let’s make this interesting then shall we?” Bucky said rising from his seat and glaring at Steve, “The winner gets her and the loser has to quit,”

Surprise flitted across Steve’s face for a moment before a smug smirk settled on his handsome face, “Alright, you had yourself a deal,” He replied holding his hand out for Bucky to shake,

“May the best man win,” Bucky said shaking Steve’s hand.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me! Not again!” Peggy’s angry voice cut through the office, startling both men who whirled around to face a very angry looking Peggy Carter. They both at that moment did not wish Peggy’s death stare on even their worst enemy.

“Ah fuck.” Both of them muttered.


	6. Fucking Fantastic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky Barnes makes a mistake, Peggy is pissed and Steve is an asshole in general! It's a shit show!

Peggy Carter sat at her desk, glaring at her two oldest friends before her. She could not at that moment find the words to aptly describe just how infuriated and frustrated she was with the two of them. It had been almost a decade of friendship and these two had turned on each other and become such bitter rivals that sometimes it cost the company business.

She had the last three Junior Associates that she had assigned between the two of them quit because of their shenanigans and she had enough.

“Peggy..” Steve started but she cut him off,

“Shut up Steve”

“Okay then.”

“Do you two know how long it took me to find a capable woman who was willing to move her entire life to come and work for us?” She said icily,

“Peggy,” Bucky tried to speak but she shut him up as well,

“No I don’t even want to hear it, Buck, I trusted you with her because I thought you would be more mature than Steve with this,”

“Hey!” Steve exclaims feigning offense, 

“But clearly I was wrong. I am so tired of this asinine behavior! I swear to god if this woman quits, I am firing both of you!” She snapped ignoring his offended look and, pointedly looking at Steve now.

“Can I speak now?” Bucky said drily,

Peggy looked at him and crossed her arms, waiting for whatever stupid explanation he was going to give her.

“Firstly, this bet was Steve’s idea and secondly, I already told you I don’t need her to you can give her to Steve if this will end this inane discussion.”

“Bucky that’s not the point I am trying to make here!” Peggy exclaimed exasperatedly, “You can’t work alone! This is why I assigned her to you, your performance reviews from the people who work with you said that you were volatile, cold and didn’t play well with others!”

Steve stifled his laughter but quickly shut up when both Bucky and Peggy turned their angry glares at him. “And don’t even get me started on you, Steve! You might be right behind Bucky in winning cases for this firm but you have to stop playing games with all the interns! I have had several complaints about it.” She snapped at her ex-husband.

“Well now that’s not fair, I treat those interns well, they should be grateful I don’t fire their incompetent asses when I am always cleaning up after them” Steve retorted,

Peggy sighed and began to rub her temples, feeling a stress headache coming on. She loved Bucky and Steve like family but sometimes she felt like the principal constantly having to scold her two star players for creating some kind of problem that she had to deal with.

“Guys, Tony is coming back in a weeks time. Please can we just hold it together until he gets here,” She said tiredly, “I can’t find a new associate for you Bucky, so please make it work and just be nicer to her and Steve for the love of god, do not fuck her. I beg you.”

Both men glanced at each other for a moment and then at Peggy, Bucky felt kind of bad when he saw just how much strain Peggy was under trying to run this entire firm while Tony had been away for the last six months due to family reasons. He could be a little less hardheaded. Steve who knew Peggy better than anyone felt a twinge of guilt, they could both be better men if they just tried but this was a competition Steve wanted to win, for some reason.

“Alright, are we done here?” Bucky said getting out of his seat,

“Yes.” Peggy sighed,

“Good, I have shit to do.” Steve rose to his feet as well,

“Behave!” Peggy called out as the two of them began to walk out of her office, 

She leaned back in her chair as she watched the two of them try and shove each other out the way to get out the door first, and she shook her head lightly chuckling at the sight. How she ended up with these two in her life she will never understand.

 

“You wanted to see me?” You said tapping lightly on Steve’s office door,

He smiled when he saw you and beckoned you in, gesturing to one of the seats as he continued to talk to whoever was on the other end of the call he was on. You walked in and took a seat on one of the expensive leather chairs, patiently waiting for him to finish his phone call.

Steve threw you an apologetic smile and mouthed “Just a minute” to you as you waited. You just smiled and shrugged at him, even though you were becoming increasingly impatient with waiting for him.

Finally, he is done, and he sets the phone looking at you. “Sorry about that,” he said apologetically,

“It’s fine” You replied, “You wanted to see me?”

“Yeah, would you like to have drinks with me tonight?” Steve asked,

“Steve,” You started to say,

“With clients, of course, it’s a professional courtesy. We do that for some of our high-roller clients.” He added, explaining himself quickly.

“Oh, yeah sure. If it’s for work I’ll come,” You said, thanking God that he was not actually asking you out because after the other night you really wanted to avoid him and the little incident that had happened. You had shoved that memory far out of your mind and were hoping he would forget about it too.

“Great, it’s after work today. You can ride with me,” He said with a smile,

You nodded and started to get up to leave but he stopped you.

“So, are we going to talk about the other night or are you going to keep running in the other direction when you see me?” He asked. You froze for a moment and your eyes met his, a soft smile on his face as he observed you panic for a second.

You sighed and sat back down, your heart suddenly thundering in your chest. As much as you wanted to avoid this topic you knew you had to talk about it with him and tell him it can never happen again.

“Can I just keep running the other way?” You said hopefully,

Steve chuckled, shaking his head. “That’s not exactly a good coping method,” He said,

“I know I know, I just don’t want to deal with it right now. I am new here Steve, I can’t be the girl everyone looks at and assumes those kinds of things about me,”

“Relax, no one is going to know anything or assume anything.” He placated you,

“It can’t happen again,” You stated,

“Why not?” Steve challenged you,

“Because you are my boss’s ex-husband Steve and I am here to work not fuck around!”

“So just to clarify, you were okay with what happened, just the fact that I am your bosses ex-husband that’s what bothers you?”

You sighed exasperatedly and ran your fingers through your hair. “No Steve, it all bothers me,”

“Even the kiss?” Steve said, his eyes flitting to the door for a moment and then to you,

“Especially the kiss,” You repeated, and an amused smirk settled over Steve’s face as leaned back in his chair and observed you.

“What kiss?” A voice sounded behind you. You didn’t even have to turn around to immediately feel the utter regret that torpedoed through you. You squeezed your eyes shut and grimaced, your heart beating so rapidly in your chest you thought it might explode.

You immediately jumped out of your seat and whirled around to face Bucky. He wore a frown on his handsome face, arms crossed as he stood in the doorway disapprovingly looking at you.

Your brain was racing trying to think of something to say but you were coming up empty, so Steve took the lead for you.

“The kiss Y/N and I shared the other night,” He said pointedly looking at Bucky with a satisfied smile on his face.

You whirled around and looked at Steve, open-mouthed. You couldn’t believe he casually just threw you under the bus like that. But from the look on his face, you realized he had wanted Bucky to hear that and that just made you angrier. You looked back at Bucky and if looks could kill both you and Steve would have been dead because the glare he was sending both you way actually made you freeze for a second.

“Mr. Barnes,” You started to say but he doesn’t let you finish, instead Bucky calmly walked towards you and handed you the file in his hand then looked at Steve for a moment then back at you.

“Tomorrow, 8 AM, completed.” He said coldly and then walked away without giving either of you a second look.

You stared after him, wishing the ground could open up and swallow you. Feeling like a complete idiot at that moment, and had no idea what to do so you directed your anger on the best next person.

“What the actual fuck?!” You exclaimed whirling around and looking at Steve, who was now seated in his chair with a smug look on his face that made you want to punch him.

“What? I can’t lie to my partners,” He shrugged,

“Bullshit! You wanted him to know, what fucking game are you playing at? Was it just your intention to humiliate me with him?!” You snapped at him,

“Oh calm down, it’s not like he’s going to tell Peggy if you’re scared of that.” Steve rolled his eyes,

“That is not the point! You just humiliated me in front of someone who is basically my peer, Steve!” You hissed angrily at him, “And even worse, you seem satisfied with yourself”

“It was never my intention to humiliate you Y/N,” Steve said getting out of his seat and moving around the desk to stand in front of you, “I am sorry, I will go talk to Bucky for you.”

“No!” You snapped, “You have done enough,”

Without letting him say anything further you stormed out of his office, slamming the door behind you. This garnered the attention of a few interns who were milling about, and you gave them all a filthy look as you blew passed them and walked into your office. You shut the door behind you and pulled the blinds closed, blocking out the office and anyone who would see you, you angrily threw the file Bucky had given you onto the desk and dropped into your desk chair.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuuuuuck!!” You screamed softly to yourself, dropping your head into your arms.

_Shit was about to go sideways for you and you knew it._

 

“Nat, screen all my calls for the rest of the day,” Bucky said as he walked passed his assistants desk. The redhead looked up from her screen and frowned as she watched Bucky walk into his office, loosen his tie and pour himself a scotch.

She sighed and pushed herself out of her desk chair, before making her way into his office.

“A little early for a drink, don’t you think?” She said moving to take the drink from his hand,

“Little early to be so judgemental, don’t you think?” Bucky muttered pulling the glass away from her and running his hand tiredly across his stubbled chin.

“Wanna talk about it?” Natasha asked, taking a seat on the couch beside Bucky. Natasha had worked for Bucky for as long as he had been at the firm. They had started out as friends, and at some point, they dated before breaking up and now Natasha was his assistant, to be fair she ran his life for him.

“Not particularly,”

“Well you don’t have a choice, tell me what’s the problem or I will beat it out of you,”

“Steve and that damn bet,” Bucky sighed, “The fucker is cheating, I don't know how but I know he is!”

“Are you serious?! You two made another bet! About who this time?” Natasha said exasperatedly,

“The new girl,”

“Y/N?”

“Uh huh,”

“What was the bet?” Natasha asked, taking the glass of Scotch from Bucky and taking a sip.

“The usual. Also, you know you can’t drink at work right?”

“Sure I can, you don’t care right?”

“You know I am your boss right?”

“Get over it Bucky,” Natasha rolled her eyes, “So why is Steve winning?”

“Because he is being all sugary sweet and fake nice, he knows that’s not how this works yet he’s still doing it,” Bucky replied, downing the glass of scotch after taking it back from Natasha.

“Okay, so get on his level, you whiny bitch.” Natasha said standing up,

Bucky looked up at her with a surprised look on his face, “What?”

“Do what he’s doing, only better. You know if you turned on that famous James Buchanan Barnes charm, no woman could resist you right?”

“That’s cheating,” Bucky pointed out,

“And when, Bucky, have you ever played by the rules?” Natasha sighed, shaking her head.

“I always play…” He started to say,

“Oh shut up and go flash those baby blues of yours to her, speak in that husky voice and win the god damn bet because I cannot for the life of me hear Steve gloat one more time about how he and Sam make a better team than we do!” She said cutting him off,

“Do you want me to win this for me or for you?” Bucky laughed, getting off the couch and moving to place the scotch glass back on the table.

“We both need this, so don’t fuck this up,” Natasha said rather dramatically before she walked out of his office, shutting the door behind her.

Bucky watched Natasha for a second before he chuckled lightly, shaking his head and took a seat at his desk. He had to think this through, he was furious that Steve had kissed her because it meant she clearly saw something she liked there. As primitive and childish this stupid bet was with Steve it was about more than just getting her, it was whose side she would pick while she worked here and that mattered to Bucky.

He hated losing to Steve, he hated it in high school, he hated it in college and he sure as shit hated it now. He was going to have to be just as underhanded as Steve was being if he was going to win, and she was just going to have to be collateral damage along the way.


	7. Good God!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky does something unexpected, Thor tries to solve your problems and Steve gains the upper hand!

_Click Click Click_

Bucky visibly gritted his teeth at the sound. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his mouth shut but you do it again.

_Click Click Click_

He looked over at where you sat across the table from him, head down looking over the file before you. The two of you had spent the better part of the morning in court, it was an exhausting case and it had been a grueling six hours of court and now back to the office where you were buried in new files and evidence. The plaintiff was playing the paperwork game and it was driving you insane.

_Click Click Click_

You unintentionally clicked your pen as you scanned through the document before you, your mind entirely too preoccupied to notice Bucky looking at you. It had been three weeks since he found out that Steve had kissed you and you wholly expected him to never speak to you again or extend professional courtesy towards you since you weren’t very professional with Steve. But in fact it was the direct opposite, Bucky had completely changed. He involved you in everything he did, he took you out to lunch almost every day or came to your office to sit with you. He spoke to you on the regular, asked how your day was and even smiled at you every morning in the elevator.

You had no idea where all this was coming from but you weren’t about to complain. As much as it made you nervous how nice he was suddenly being to you, you finally relaxed a little around him.

“Can I ask you a question?” Bucky asked, causing you to look up from your file and stop clicking your pen.

“Sure,”

“Why do you always click your pen when you read something?”

“Oh…” You looked down at the pen in your hand and then back at him, “I don’t know, it helps me think better,” You shrugged,

“It’s a very annoying habit,” Bucky pointed out,

You weren't sure if he was joking on or not because of the seriousness on his face, but his eyes seemed playful. “Sorry, I’ll be more conscious of it,” You mumbled setting the pen down,

“I have another question?”

“You can just ask James,” You replied,

He smiled at you, he liked the fact that you had stopped calling him Mr. Barnes and were now calling him James. It showed progress.

“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” He asked,

This question completely blindsided you, and you looked at him slightly shocked. To be fair there had been some light flirting on his side that you hadn’t said no to and the casual compliment on how good you looked here and there, and the occasional smirk he would throw your way in a meeting when there was an inside joke shared between the two of you.

You thought it was harmless fun, it was actually nice because you felt like he was really making an effort to make you feel like you were on the same team. But you had never expected him to act on any of that tension and flirting.

“Just us?” You asked like an idiot,

Bucky laughed, “Yes just us, Y/N.”

“Oh…”

“I mean you don’t have to, just thought we’d take a break from this case and have a nice meal.” He shrugged,

“Okay yeah sure, we can have dinner,” You said quickly, you didn’t want him to feel bad or anything or ruin the good thing the two of you had going right now.

“Great, I’ll have Natasha send a car for you later tonight,” Bucky said with a smile and you just smiled back.

It was possibly the dumbest thing in the world but you suddenly realized you might be developing feelings for him and you wanted to kick yourself in the face. It was those stupid blue eyes of his and that gorgeous smile, what woman could resist him.

***

It was already after six in the evening when you stepped off the elevator and into the lobby of the massive office building. You were slightly startled when you saw the Bucky’s assistant Natasha standing at the elevator doors waiting for you.

“Hello Y/N,” Natasha said, falling into step beside you.

“Uh Hi Natasha,”

“Bucky asked me to organize the car to take you to his house,” She explained as the two of you made your way out of the building and towards the fancy sleek black Mercedes parked outside,

“To his house?” You asked quizzically, confused as to why you were going there as you were under the impression the two of you were going out for dinner.

“Yes, this is Arthur he’s your driver for tonight and any other time you might need him,” Natasha said, her voice polite and her smile professional as she gestured at the driver.

“Why would I need him any other time?” You asked again, “Hi Arthur,” You added quickly smiling at the sweet looking driver,

“Ma’am,” He replied tipping his hat.

“Mr. Barnes asked me to organize you are town car so that you were able to go around the city without having to use public transport,” She replied,

“I don’t need a town car,” You began to protest but Natasha cuts you off,

“I am sure you can explain all that to him, for now, enjoy your evening with him and Arthur will take you home when you are done,” She said ushering you into the car. You climbed into the plush leather seat with a frown, you really didn’t feel this was necessary but Natasha was being politely pushy about the whole thing so you just went with it.

“Have a good evening,” She said just as she shut the car door.

“Thanks, I guess,” You mumbled mostly to yourself and settled in as the car pulled away.

***

To say Bucky’s house was anything less than insanely state of the art would be an insult. He lived in a penthouse with a doorman in the Upper East Side, obviously. You lived in Brooklyn a humble high rise that overlooked the bridge, large enough to be called home and small enough that it didn’t seem excessive, but this, this was on another level. He clearly made A LOT of money for Stark and Carter.

As you stepped off the elevator and into his luxury home, you were met by a Bucky Barnes you had never seen before. He was in casual clothes much to your surprise, he wore dark blue jeans, something you didn't think he owned and a white t-shirt. His usually perfect hair, slightly messy and fluffy, he to simply put it looked fantastic.

“Hey! You’re here!” He greeted you with a big smile as he walked to you.

“Hi,” You replied slightly awkwardly as he hugged you which took you by surprise, even more so.

“Come, dinner's almost ready,” Bucky said leading you towards the kitchen and taking your coat from you.

He ushered you into a seat as he hung up the coat on a nearby rack and then moved to the fridge. “What do you want to drink? I have white? Red? Rose? Prosecco?” He asked opening it and gesturing to the many many bottles of expensive looking alcohol in it.

“Uh white is fine,” You said and waited as he poured you a glass then handed it to you.

Bucky seemed like a completely different person compared to the man you were used to at the office, he was calm, relaxed and even slightly playful. He struck up a conversation about work for a little bit then changed the topic to what he was making for dinner.

“I’m not the best cook but we’re eating alfredo pasta, garlic bread, and brownies for dessert.” He said,

“Geez, you made all this?” You asked surprised,

“Yeah, don’t sound so surprised, my mother was a chef she practically forced me to learn how to cook before college.” Bucky laughed,

“Well consider me genuinely surprised,” You said taking a sip you the wine he poured you, of course, it was delicious.

Bucky just smiled at you and continued with setting out plates for the two of you to eat at the island counter.

The evening goes by better than you could have expected, Bucky was charming and attentive when you spoke, he spoke about his family, and his time at Harvard. He showed you his massive art collection which was a bit of a hobby of his, he had a library practically the size of your apartment in his penthouse which left you in awe. He even went as far as to play piano for you which quite literally left you speechless. The whole night felt a little like a date, especially when Bucky brushed a few strands of hair out of your face and behind your ear at one point in the evening. Whether he did it or purpose or not, it had your mind spinning.

By the end of the night, he had you sitting on the balcony with a cup of hot chocolate pondering who the fuck was Bucky Barnes, actually. You kept reminding yourself that you are a strong independent woman who wouldn’t let a man charm her into sleeping with him but by god, James “Bucky” Barnes was slowly breaking the resolve. 

“Do you need another blanket?” He asked bringing you out of your thoughts,

“Oh no, I’m fine.” You replied smiling at him as he took a seat beside you.

It was almost midnight, you knew you should get going home but somehow he had you wanting to stay a little longer.

“I definitely don’t feel like going to work tomorrow,” You sighed, leaning back in the very comfortable balcony chair, “Although should I be telling this to my boss?” You laughed slightly looking at him.

“Technically Peggy is your boss, so you can tell me whatever you want to and it’d be our secret.” He grinned at you,

“That sounds like trouble,” You laughed,

“How so?” He asked, shifting slightly towards you, his movement not going unnoticed by you.

“Because you are trouble James Barnes,”

“You think I am trouble?” Bucky’s voice dropping an octave, the sound of it making you shiver slightly. “And call me Bucky,”

“Absolutely...Bucky,” Your voice coming out soft and breathless for some reason as his eyes locked onto yours.

“Well, I think sometimes we all need a little trouble in our lives,” He said softly, moving closer to you so much so that you could feel the heat radiating off his body.

You were at a loss for words all of a sudden as he looked at you, why the hell was he so fucking pretty. Your heart rapidly beating in your chest as Bucky observed you for a moment, it was as if he knew what he was doing to you right then and leaned a little closer, his lips just barely touching yours and you took a sharp breath.

“Bucky,” You whispered,

“Yeah?”

“I think I should go,”

“Sure, if you want to…”

His face still centimeters from yours, those starlight eyes boring into you, lips so close to yours you could feel the warmth of his breath. Your mind is telling you no but by god, you wanted to kiss him so badly after spending the whole evening with the electric chemistry between the two of you.

Suddenly you snap back to reality when Bucky’s phone vibrated on the glass patio table, buzzing loudly and startling you. You shoved Bucky away from you and rose to your feet in an instant, trying to pull yourself together and mentally cursing yourself for being such a starry-eyed little girl.

You would have never let a guy with all his charms and fancy food and expensive wine charm you like this, what the fuck were you thinking.

Bucky sighed deeply and grabbed his phone, looking at the caller ID before ignoring the call.

“I should go, it’s late.” You said quickly,

“Okay, let me walk you out,” Bucky said getting to his feet, gesturing towards the balcony door.

As Bucky walked you to the elevator leading out of his apartment, your heart was hammering nervously in your chest. You had almost kissed him, that would have spelled disaster for both of you. Your mind was racing with questions, why the hell was he being so nice, why was he suddenly so into you, did it have anything to do with Steve kissing you.

Bucky cleared his throat beside you as the elevator dinged on the landing, he gave you a small smile as you stepped onto it, and he held the doors open for a moment, his eyes meeting yours again.

“Thanks for tonight, It was great.” You said,

“Anytime,” Bucky replied huskily, as his eyes roamed across your body for a second and then back up to your face.

“Goodnight Bucky,”

He smiled at you again, and was about to release the elevator doors when suddenly faster than you were expecting it, Bucky stepped onto the elevator cupped your face and pressed his lips to yours, kissing you breathless.

And just as quickly as it happened, it was over and Bucky stepped back out of the elevator a smirk on his handsome face.

“Good night Y/N.” He said, and before you could register what had happened the elevator doors closed, leaving you standing there utterly bewildered at what had just happened.

*********

“Good morning Sunshine!” Thor said loudly as he walked into your office,

You groaned loudly and slowly lifted your head up off the cool glass desk, wincing as the sun immediately hurt your eyes.

“No, it's too early for such loud voices,” You rasped,

Thor laughed and dropped onto the suede couch in your office, “Rough night?”

“You could say that,” You mumbled, pulling open the desk drawer and fumbling around to find the bottle of aspirin you kept there.

“Where did you go?” He asked,

“Nowhere, I was at home and pounded through half a bottle of Vodka because I was dealing with some stuff,” You sighed, fishing out the aspirin and tossing it into your mouth before chasing it down with half the bottle of water you had on your desk.

“Wanna talk about it?” Thor asked, patting the spot on the couch beside him, “Alternatively, I was going to say we could go get coffee and bagels downstairs.”

“Yeah let’s get out of this office,” You sighed, standing up and grabbing your sunglasses and purse, you desperately needed to escape this office and not see Bucky. Thor had just given you the best opportunity to do so.

After Bucky had kissed you, the entire car ride home you were stunned silent and then the bewilderment turned into anger and frustration. Mostly with yourself. You spent a good portion of the night pacing your living room while drinking glass after glass of straight vodka until you drunkenly passed out on the couch.

When you woke up that morning, you had a hangover the size of a small country and were dealing with the aftermath of your stress drinking session. Coming into the office had been a little bit of a mission for you.

But now that you were sat in the small warm coffee shop downstairs in the lobby of the building, you felt a little better.

“So tell me all your problems, and let me solve them for you,” Thor said, stirring the large latte that sat before him.

“Ugh, If I tell you, you’re going to judge me.” You groaned, holding your head in an attempt to stop the current pounding that was reverberating through it.

“And when have I ever done that? Come on, don’t leave me in suspense.” He persisted,

“I had dinner with Bucky and he kissed me,” You said groaning again and slumping your head down into your arms,

“You did what, holy fucking shit, I was not expecting that,” Thor exclaimed softly,

“Bitch, neither was I okay,”

Thor was quiet for a moment then he patted your head gently, “I don’t know how to help you with this one kiddo, sorry,”

You looked up at him, pulling a face. “Oh jee thanks Thor, what great advice, you shouldn’t have.” You say sarcastically rolling your eyes at him.

“When did it happen?” He chuckled in response,

“Last night.”

“Oh dear lord, and I am assuming you haven't spoken to him yet?”

“Nope…”

“Good, don’t.” He nodded at you,

“What? Why?”

“Because, if he kissed you, you should pretend it didn’t happen until he acknowledges it. Make him sweat a little,”

You paused for a moment and thought about what Thor said. He actually made a very good point, you should just pretend it didn’t happen and make Bucky feel a little bad for it.

“That’s actually some good advice,” You noted, swiping the bagel off Thor’s plate and taking a bite.

“I know it is, and get your own bagel” he replied playfully shoving you.

“Come on man, I need this plus I have to go to court in two hours. I need to at least look a little less hungover,” You whined,

Thor looked you up and down and then shrugged, “You look fine to me, you look a little hungover but the Louboutins make it look like a classy hangover,” He joked.

“Well, I’ll take a classy hangover without a headache,” You sighed.

“Ah, you’ll be fine, my friend.” Thor said rubbing your shoulder, “Let’s get you some coffee and put a little whiskey in it and you’ll feel right as rain.

“That’s not a bad idea,” You laughed as he signaled the waitress to order you a drink.

The two of you sat in the coffee shop sharing stories and chatting as if you were the oldest of friends and Thor made you forget for a little while what a sticky situation you had put yourself in. That’s why you loved hanging out with him. The little error you had made wasn’t just telling Thor about what had happened, no, because unbeknownst to you and your current hangover, Steve Rogers had been sitting at a table nearby concealed by a book he was reading and had heard every word you had just said.

The game as about to get very very tricky, because Steve now had just the ammo he needed to play you right into his court.


	8. Hello Heartbreaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The relationship between you and Bucky move to the next level, and an unexpected night turns into a morning of realizations and Steve shows up with some news for you.

Avoiding Bucky turned out to be harder than you thought. He was always around, obviously, you worked with the guy. But it was still hard, he was in the break room drinking coffee whenever you walked in, he would be leaving for lunch as soon as you would be, he came in every morning the same time you did.

You pretended as if nothing had happened between the two of you. Greeting him politely, laughing if he made a joke, assisting him with work but never being alone with him in a room, ever. Avoidance was key here and you were doing it marvelously with the help of Thor, who whenever he saw you were about to be alone with Bucky would valiantly step in and keep you company until Bucky left.

It was exhausting but it had to be done until a few weeks later he cornered you in the copy room.

“Ah, you finally don’t have your bodyguard with you,” His voice sounded behind you, making you jump where you stood.

“Fucking fuck!” You exclaimed, “You scared me.” 

Bucky quirked his eyebrow at you for a moment then walked into the copy room, holding a stack of papers which he sets beside the copier.

“You do your own copying?” You said sarcastically,

“Nope.”

“So why are you here?”

“To shred some shit,” He shrugged, a smirk on his face.

You rolled your eyes and went back to what you were doing while Bucky walked over to the shredder, and began to shred documents, the two of you working in silence but the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“I have a question?” Bucky said, he was suddenly beside you and this startled you once more,

“Ugh, don’t sneak up on me and what?” You snapped,

“How long are we going to ignore the kiss?” He asked with a bemused smile,

“What kiss?”

“Oh, you don’t remember,” He said sarcastically,

“Nope,” You shrugged nonchalantly,

And then suddenly, just like before Bucky grabbed your face and pressed his lips to yours. This time your mouth parted slightly letting his tongue slip passed your lips and dance against yours. The moment as fleeting and breathless and the second he pulled away, you quite literally gasped for breath.

“Did that jog your memory?” Bucky asked smugly, then he calmly picked up the documents he had walked in with and walked out the copy room, once again leaving you standing there speechless.

*********

You stormed through the office, brushing passed interns and other associates ignoring their hellos and smiles. You were fuming. _How dare he kiss you again! How dare he do that and then casually walk away, who the fuck did he think he was._

You don’t bother knocking on his office door when you reached it, you just stormed into Bucky’s office and were about to start yelling at him but you froze the moment you marched in.

Peggy was in the office with him, both of them turned towards you when you walked in. A confused look on Peggy’s face as she took in your slightly flustered appearance.

“Something wrong?” Bucky asked, your eyes moved to his face where an amused smile was splayed on his lips and that enraged you.

“Can I have a moment Bucky?” You said, as sweetly as you could while gritting your teeth.

Bucky looked at Peggy who nodded and stood up, “We’re just about finished here anyway,” She said, “Good to see you Y/N,” Peggy smiled at you before she walked out of the office, glancing back with a slight frown at you and Bucky.

The moment Peggy was out of sight you whirled around to face Bucky. “What the hell is your problem?!” You exclaimed,

“What are you talking about?” Bucky asked innocently,

“You can’t just go around kissing people and walking away!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

“The kiss Bucky! You can’t just kiss me and...Oh” you said when you realized what he was doing, “Real mature Bucky,”

Bucky laughed, “I don’t know why you’re making this such a big deal, you clearly enjoyed the kiss, both times.” He winked at you,

“You’re an ass and that’s not the point,” You said feeling exasperated,

“But you did enjoy the kiss?” He repeated a smug look on his handsome face.

“I am going to punch you in the throat,”

“That wouldn’t be very smart, I am your boss.”

“No Peggy is, and stop fucking kissing me James!”

“Fine, I won’t kiss you again,” He said raising his hands in surrender,

You weren’t expecting that reply, both times as much as it stunned you, you really did enjoy the kiss. There was an undeniable chemistry between the two of you, and you couldn’t hide it.

“Good.” You stated with a curt nod.

“Good,” Bucky said, that stupid smile on his face again and it made you very flustered all of a sudden, so much so that you had to get out of his office.

So without saying anything further, you turned on your heel and marched out of his office straight back to yours where you had to immediately take a seat and catch your breath from what had just transpired.

*********

Bucky stood in his office, a glass of scotch in his hand as he stared out the massive window at the twinkling city before him. He was replying the kiss in his head over and over and over, he knew he was going to win this bet without a doubt but somehow he felt a little guilty for it.

He had cheated, he had charmed his way into her heart and could already see her falling for him. Both times he kissed her, he knew exactly what he was doing,he knew the night he invited her for dinner that he was going to kiss her and he played it out perfectly.

From the wine to talking about his mother, showing her his art and playing piano for her. Bucky felt bad for it but he just wanted to win, he wanted to rub it in Steve’s smug face just this once. The last three bets he had lost because Steve played dirty and this time he wasn’t prepared to lose.

Taking a sip of the scotch in his hand, Bucky felt a cloud of guilt settle over him as he thought about her and how sweet she was. She was a genuine kind of woman, always sweet to everyone in the office, always willing to help when someone needed help, she was always smiling…that pretty smile of hers.

“God damn it,” He muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He wanted to get rid of this guilty feeling, so he down the glass of scotch grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the chair and walked out of his office.

As he made his way down to the lobby, Bucky bumped into Steve who was waiting at the elevator. Steve looked up and started grinning when he saw Bucky approaching him.

“Evening Buck,” Steve said,

Bucky just grunted a response and pulled out his phone not wanting to engage Steve is whatever conversation he was about to start.

“So, how're things going with the partner?” Steve asked,

“Why are you talking to me?” Bucky sighed looking up annoyedly at Steve,

Steve laughed, “I just want to know if there’s any progress or does she still hate you.”

“None of your business but if you must know, she hates you.”

“I know, she’s been avoiding me for a while now.”

Bucky couldn’t help the smug smile that came over his face at Steve’s words, he knew it was childish to feel any kind of glee towards this but he did. Bucky was about to say something when the elevator dinged on the landing and out she stepped from it.

She looked amazing, of course, she did. Bucky’s gaze roamed over her body for a second, the way her tight pastel pink skirt hugged every curve she had so perfectly, the silk white shirt that was tucked in all the right places, those red bottom heels that suddenly made him think about what she’d look like in his bedroom just wearing them.

“Oh hey Bucky,” She said snapping him out of his thoughts, she was smiling at him but her smile flattered when she saw Steve standing beside him.

“Hello gorgeous,” Steve replied, flashing her that Steve Rogers smile that made all the girls in the office swoon,

“Hi Steve,” She said, and Bucky watched with unamused irritation as she smiled back at him and a sudden flush crept into her cheeks. Of course, she would fall for Steve’s bullshit,

“Heading home or back to work?” Bucky asked clearing his throat, garnering her attention once again.

“Home, thank god.” She said returning her gaze to him,

“Need a ride?” Both him and Steve said at the same time, Bucky threw Steve an annoyed look and Steve frowned in return.

“Uhh…No I’m fine thanks guys, I have a few things to sort out before I leave,” She replied, sidestepping the both of them “Have a nice night,” She said and then walked away.

The two of them stared after her for a moment before Steve hid Bucky in the chest, “Are you shit whipped?!” He exclaimed with a laugh,

“What? Fuck off Rogers,” Bucky snapped and shoved him lightly as the pair got onto the elevator together.

Steve shrugged and laughed again as he watched annoyance flash through his friend. _What an interesting turn of events_ Steve thought to himself.

**********

After Bucky had kissed you, twice, it had changed everything between the two of you. The sexual tension between the two of you became palpable. Even Thor commented on it, and he said it was such a bad idea but of course, you insisted nothing was happening between the two of you but the flirting and the casual references to something more was obvious what you both wanted.

Until one Friday night, everything went to shit.

The sound of the cork popping at hitting the wall made you laugh as you quickly picked up the champagne glasses and handed them to Bucky, who held the expensive bottle of champagne. Peggy held out her glass as Bucky poured champagne for the three of you in her office.

Bucky had won the case, the verdict was made public today and well Peggy Carter was over the moon because it doubled their billable hours to the client in question.

“Congratulations again you two,” Peggy said raising her glass in your direction, “First major case together and you finished it flawlessly.”

“Couldn’t have done it without Y/N,” Bucky replied looking at you with a smile,

“We make a great team,” You said as the three of you clinked your glasses together.

Bucky’s eyes lingered on you longer than necessary and it didn't go unnoticed by Peggy, she sighed when she realized what was happening and just shook her head ever so slightly.

From there the night consisted of dinner with the Partners where you finally met Tony Stark, an eccentric man who was so obscenely rich it made sense why he was never at the office. Apparently, he now worked at his own lab, creating robots and renewable energy but still put a lot of money into the firm.

Steve was in attendance, he spoke to you for a little while and congratulated on you the win. Even though you had been angry at him, Steve had well and truly made up for it by apologizing profusely for what he had done and even went as far as to help you out with the case you had just won. If it wasn’t for Steve you actually would not have found a key piece of information.

He had you keep it a secret from Bucky though, and you knew why. The rivalry between the two of them was very obvious and Bucky would have been furious with you if you had told him how you got the information.

It was almost midnight when you found yourself saying goodnight to everyone and walking out of the restaurant, slightly flushed from all the champagne, food and amazing company. As you walked down the steps of the fancy restaurant to hail a cab, Bucky fell into step beside you.

“Leaving already?” He asked,

“Yeah, I don’t want to drink too much and embarrass myself in front of my bosses,” You said chuckling softly, “You leaving too?”

“Actually, I was hoping you'd want to catch a quick nightcap with me?” Bucky said hopefully,

You looked up at him slightly surprised, you also knew what that meant and you said yes anyway. It meant going back to his place and seeing where the night went, and it was a terrible idea. You felt a little apprehensive for a moment as the two of you got into his car and on the way to his apartment, but when you arrived all that apprehension disappeared.

*********

“Why do you have so many goddamn tea cups?” You laughed as you looked through the cupboards for the mugs in the kitchen,

“Because I collect them,” He replied bringing over the freshly brewed pot of coffee,

“That is so weird,” You giggled,

“I know,”

Bucky moved to the cupboard beside you and pulled out two mugs handing them to you with an amused expression. You took them from him, his fingers brushing against yours for a moment and it felt electric. His eyes met yours, and suddenly your heart was thundering in your chest.

Then faster than lightening Bucky dropped the mugs onto the counter, both of them cracking into little pieces and his lips were on yours. Sliding his hands down to your thighs he lifted you into his arms and placed you on the island counter, never breaking the kiss.

“The mugs,” You gasped when you broke the kiss for air,

“Leave it, someone will deal with it.” He murmured, his hands already moving to the back of your dress and pulling the zipper down. You mirror his movements and began to fumbled with the buttons of his shirt before tugging it off.

His mouth on yours again, Bucky pulls off your dress in one smooth motion and dropped it to the floor revealing your almost naked body to him. Your hands are everywhere, his body felt exactly as you had imagined it, every inch of him hard and muscled.

Bucky places a hand on your chest and pulls away from the kiss, he runs his tongue across your lower lip, trailing it along your jaw, down to your ear, and then to your neck where he sucks a bruise into the skin at the base of your ear. You shiver with lust, at the sensation it creates within you. Arousal going straight between your legs.

“We should move this to the bedroom,” He muttered against your neck, and you just nodded as you were too breathless at that moment to say anything.

Bucky grabbed your hand as you got off the counter and the two of you practically ran to the bedroom. Before you could even step into the room, Bucky spun you around, his mouth on yours again as he lifted you into his arms and kicked open the bedroom door.

Bucky tumbles through the bedroom door, kicking off his shoes. His mouth is everywhere he can put it on you before he tosses you onto the bed and pulls off his pants and underwear.

Bucky grabs your legs and pulls you to the edge of the bed, his gaze sweeps across your body, and he runs his fingers across the black lace panties that you wore before he meets your lustful eyes.

Holding your legs up and pulls off your panties exposing you to him, Bucky places kisses along the entirety of your inner calf, and thigh. Repeating the motion on both side, he leaves small bruises with each kiss, as he nips at the skin. The more he does this, the more aroused you become, he grazes over your core.

He kisses his way up your body, slowly, tortuously, all while you lay back, watching him with lustful anticipation. Across your hips, your stomach, nipping at your rib cage, before he stops at your breasts. And practically rips the bra that you are wearing off, discarding it without a second thought. Bucky drags his stubbled jaw lightly across your skin, the scratchy feel giving you goosebumps as his mouth places open mouth kisses on your breasts, his teeth grazing your already taut nipples.

Your hands tangle in his hair, breaths coming out in sharp gasps. There was no turning back now. Whatever was about to happen was going to happen and you would just have to deal with the aftermath later. For now, all you wanted was to fuck Bucky and that was that.

Then without warning, he presses his cock to your entrance and pushes in slightly. You gasped, and he cuts off your gasp with a rough kiss as his mouth finds yours again. Until he bottoms out inside you, your back arching off the bed at the sudden sensation. You moaned against his mouth and his arm snakes around your waist as he finds his rhythm inside you.

His pace is slow, and deep and lustful. Every move of his muscle above you drives you wild, every kiss he leaves across your skin sets you on fire, every thrust inside you, leaves you ecstatic. You feel yourself clench and the heat pooling, you’re already close.

“G-god..” You moaned as mouth moved to your neck, leaving a trail of love bites as he kissed across your collarbone. Each thrust driving you closer to your ecstatic release until you are clawing at his back as you come, Bucky pulled back slightly and watched you come undone with lustful appreciation. You ride the high of your orgasm, digging your nails into his shoulders.

“You are so fucking pretty,” He muttered, “It’s so distracting,”

His words make your heart jump as you opened your eyes and looked into his starlight blue eyes, creating an even stronger intimacy to the moment. Bucky suddenly shifts and pulls out of you, roughly flipping you over onto your stomach. Trailing his tongue up your spine, he nudges your legs further apart and slowly thrusts back into you. And you can’t help the moan that escapes your lips, the feel of him inside you drives you wild. Maybe at some point, you had imagined what this would have been like but it was nothing like this. This was ecstatic, electric and freeing. It was like storm clouds bringing the release of rain over a drought, pure magic. That was how your bodies moved together.

A few moments later, your orgasm rips through you. Sheet grabbing, sweat-inducing, toe-curling, loud ecstasy rips through you. Your body shudders beneath his grip, and he fucks you faster, chasing his own release soon and as he comes you feel his grip on your hip tighten and his thrust speed up then slow down.

When it’s over, Bucky pulled out of you and falls down beside you as you rolled over onto your back. Both of you out of breath and still coming down from the high of what just happened.

Silence fell over the two of you and you could almost hear Bucky’s heart hammering in his chest. You didn’t know what to do next, should you get up and go, do you stay over? Thankfully Bucky answered the questions on your mind for you by pulling the bedsheets around the two of you and pulling you into his arms. A motion you were not expecting from you.

You had no idea what this meant, maybe he was just trying to be gentlemanly or maybe it was something more. But for now, you shoved all those thoughts out of your mind as Bucky turned your head towards him and softly placed a kiss on your lips. It was slow and fervent, and all those worries you had just melted away.

And that is how you fell asleep a few minutes later, softly making out with Bucky, his arms wrapped around you in a warm embrace.

*********

It was almost four in the morning when Bucky slipped out of the bed, pulling on a pair of sweatpants. He glanced at your figure that was laying in his bed and pulled the sheet around you, so as not to disturb you.

He quietly made his way out of the bedroom, careful not to make too much noise as he made his way to the living room. Bucky poured himself a drink, sighing as he did so. His guilt had suddenly tripled since the events that had transpired a few hours ago. He knew what he had done was wrong and as much as a small part of him was celebrating there was a bigger part of him that just felt like an asshole.

Sighing deeply again, Bucky walked over to the patio doors and stepped out onto it, the cool night air brushing over his bare torso and causing him to shiver slightly. He needed to clear his head, he didn’t understand why he felt so guilty this time. He and Steve had been playing the stupid juvenile game for so long yet all of a sudden something changed.

He leaned against the balcony railing and took a long sip from his drink. The straight liquor burning his throat as he swallowed it.

“God damn it, James,” he muttered to himself, “You absolute fucking idiot.”

 

The morning after is always the most awkward, and the moment you opened your eyes you were dreading facing Bucky. Although you didn’t regret what had happened, you had no idea where this left you or how he felt about you.

_Was this just a quick hook up? Did he want something more? How did he even feel towards you?_

All these questions were firing off in your mind before you even opened your eyes. Beside you, you felt Bucky shift slightly, and you sneaked a glance at him. His muscular arm was thrown over his eyes, and his chest rises and falls in a steady beat. Unsure if he was asleep or not, you slowly began to sit up, looking around the room.

It was the perfect picture of a bachelor's bedroom, crisp white sheets, grey and silver accents. Black sleek electronics, grey curtains that hung across huge bay windows that overlooked the city.

“Good morning,” Bucky murmured beside you,

“Morning,” You mumbled back, and for some reason, you pulled the sheet around you a little tighter as if he hadn’t seen everything last night.

Bucky yawned and sat up tiredly rubbing the sleep from his face. In the morning light with mussed hair, sleepy eyes and a flushed face he never looked more handsome. It was like looking behind the curtain of who Bucky Barnes really was and you were falling headfirst for this version of him.

“You’re so pretty in the morning,” Bucky murmured, brushing a few strands of hair out of face and behind your ear,

“Likewise, pretty boy.” You said,

Bucky chuckled as he got out of the bed, you noticed he was wearing sweatpants which meant at some point in the night he had put them on or woken up, and you felt way too naked right then.

“Coffee?” Bucky asked,

“Yeah,” You nodded,

You watched as he picked up the phone beside the bed and pressed a button and then waited a moment. “Hey Arthur, the usual times two my man,” He said “Thanks.” then hung up.

“Your driver is your butler?” You said incredulously,

“No, but he does pick up my coffee on Saturday mornings” Bucky replied with a laugh,

You just shook your head and got out of the bed, clutching the sheets around your body as you did so. You realized you didn’t have any clothes here and your only dress was probably somewhere in the kitchen, Bucky realized this too and he walked into his closet for a moment then emerged with a rather large shirt that should probably fit you like a dress.

“Sorry, I don't have many lady clothes around here.” He said apologetically as he handed it to you.

After taking the shirt, and retreating to the bathroom to freshen up. You walked through Bucky’s house looking at the various photos and paintings you hadn’t noticed before. To your surprise, there was a picture of him and Steve from when they were like six years old. They both had big goofy grins on their faces, arms slung around the other's shoulders, it was terribly endearing and made you wonder what happened between them to make them such rivals now.

“First grade,” Bucky said suddenly beside you,

“What?”

“This picture,” He pointed to the one of him and Steve, “Was taken on our first day of grade school,”

“How sweet and you’re still friends,” You said smiling at him,

“I guess it is sweet,” Bucky shrugged and handed you one of the coffee cups to you. “Come breakfast is in the kitchen,” he motioned for you to follow him, which you did and found that there was a whole spread laid out for the two of you. Waffles, french toast, eggs, bacon, coffee, fresh fruit, so many different kinds of juice that you didn’t know what to think.

“Jesus, is the queen coming over for breakfast?” You laughed as you took a seat at the chair Bucky held out for you,

“No, I just didn’t know what you liked for breakfast,” He said with a shrug,

“You could have just asked,”

“Y/N, just enjoy the nice gesture,” Bucky said chuckling before he took a seat beside you and the two of you started eating.

********

Breakfast was amazing, everything was perfect, too perfect in fact. Bucky was a gentleman in that he let you shower after breakfast, insisted on dropping you off at your place and before he left even kissed you as if he were your boyfriend. All of this just makes your head spin, in the span of like twelve hours things had changed so drastically between the two of you.

As you walked up the sidewalk towards your apartment building after saying goodbye to Bucky, you couldn’t help the smile that came over your face. You saw something with him, a future maybe? You didn’t know what it was but Bucky Barnes made your heart flutter.

But all that suddenly dissipated when you neared your apartment building and saw Steve leaning against a town car, waiting for you. The smile fell from your ace, and your heart rate suddenly spiked, what could he possibly want on a Saturday.

“Good Morning gorgeous,” Steve said taking off his sunglasses, and looking at your appearance, “Doing the walk of shame are we?”

“What are you doing here Steve?” You sighed,

“We need to talk,”

“About what?” You asked cautiously,

“Bucky,”

“Steve, I really don’t care about some stupid rivalry between the two of you, I have better things to..” You began to say but he cuts you off,

“You are going to want to know about this okay, trust me. I don’t want to do this but I also don’t want you to get hurt,” Steve said softly,

“What? Why would I get hurt?” Your heart suddenly full of anxiety at the way Steve was acting.

“Maybe we should go upstairs and talk.” He suggested, gesturing towards your apartment.

“Okay,” You nodded, the uneasy feeling that suddenly settled in your chest made you want to throw up and you had no idea how you were going to handle whatever Steve was about to tell you.


End file.
